Gossip
by Empty Pen09
Summary: Like the childhood game of telephone, eavesdropping and miscommunication leads to incorrect information about Alex and Piper going viral in the prison.
1. Chapter 1

**It's been a while since I've uploaded anything, I've had a serious case of writers block. Inspiration** **struck me today so I wrote this and uploaded it hoping this would give me my mojo back. BTW this show is all kinds of awesome. So I hope you enjoy this, it's a fun little meaningless thing that should be an easy read, so go ahead. Read it!**

** Empty Pen**

Alex and Nichols:

Nichols giggled as she spelled out the word oral using the homemade Scrabble tiles some nameless inmate had made what she could only guess was a lifetime ago. Things had a way of getting lost inside the walls but no matter what happened she'd always found solace in the Scrabble set. There was something fascinating about how resilient the game was. The stained cardboard face outlined with crayon and marker, the handmade tiles ripped delicately into near perfect squares. The backwards Q's, the capital T's, they'd all stood the test of time. They had been here when Nichols stepped through the bars and would surely be here long after she'd gone.

"Oral," Alex said sliding her own tiles across the board. The humor of the word was lost on Alex. She didn't seem to find the simple things funny like Nichols did but Alex could be counted on to always get the joke, even if she didn't find it funny.

Nichols giggled like a school girl and Alex peered at her over the top of her glasses as she was prone to do when Nichols behaved like a six year old.

"You're such a kid sometimes. Every time we hang out I feel like I'm thirteen and we're playing doctor in my bedroom closet."

Nichol's eyes lit up with interest. "You used to play doctor? Let me guess you were always the doctor."

Alex finally smiled and finished arranging her word with the tiles. Nichols was convinced the woman was only half paying attention to the game. Whenever they played Scrabble Alex never challenged her words even when she simply made them up in her head. Her last word before Oral had been Pendit. She knew that wasn't a word, she'd never heard anybody say it but Alex had let it go without even a glance. Now she had added to it to build the word expenditure. Typical Alex, even fancy in Scrabble Nichols said to herself.

"I was always the doctor because we always played at my house. My mom was always working so she was never home so I was able to entertain." She said the word entertain with a hint of a smile and Nichols found herself wondering what the woman meant by entertaining. How much trouble could two thirteen year old girls actually get in without any drugs or booze?

"Expenditure," Nichols said changing the subject. Alex never shared, they'd done a laundry list of dirty things together and she knew very little about her life outside the bars and whenever she asked Alex always found a way to change the subject.

"It means," Alex started to say.

"I know what it means. I'm a junkie not an idiot. I can read and write," Nichols said sternly. She didn't know why it bothered her, Alex knew she wasn't an idiot, she knew she'd been raised with the best of everything. Having an education wouldn't be much of a stretch.

Alex nodded quickly. "Of course. I'm sorry," she said, and she did sound genuinely sorry. Then again she'd been this way for days now. Down in the dumps. Likely over her fall out with Chapman. Alex had finally managed to put her foot down and send Chapman away but Nichols knew she desperately hoped that Chapman would come crawling back on her hands and knees asking for forgiveness. If she did Nichols knew Alex would forgive her almost immediately. Instead of pressing the issue she decided to lighten the mood. The Latinas were sitting a few tables away listening to everything and she knew showing weakness wasn't a good idea inside the walls.

"Hey speaking of expenditures, what's the most money you've ever spent in one day?"

Alex gave her a confused glance likely wondering where the question had come from. She thought it over and shook her head. "I don't know. I don't like this game."

Nichols rolled her eyes. "Come on, I'll go first. When I was sixteen me and a couple of friends of mine checked into a hotel, bought a bunch of booze, blow, and H and we had a party. Three days of partying. I've never had so much sex and so much pussy in my life."

Alex finally allowed herself to show a real smile. "How much money did you spend?"

Nichols nodded proudly. "Twelve grand. I'm surprised I didn't OD." In reality Nichols didn't remember how much money she actually spent. She remembered leaving the house with twelve grand but she wasn't sure how much she'd actually spent on drugs and alcohol. She did remember by the time she checked out on Monday afternoon she was dead broke.

"Now you. What's the most you've ever spent in a day?"

Alex looked up at the cold grey ceiling and considered it. "I guess I'll have to go with seventy nine thousand."

Nichol's eyes widened with interest. "Eighty Grand?" Who spent eighty grand in a day?

Alex nodded. "Seventy nine thousand six hundred forty one dollars and eight cents."

In the distance Nichols saw Mama Diaz's head snap to attention. Even she thought that was a huge number.

"What the hell did you buy?"

Alex shook her head. "Two first class tickets to the French Riviera, A bungalow on the beach for a week. A pearl necklace from Tiffany's and enough clothes to make any woman happy."

Nichol's sat open mouthed at the revelation. She knew Alex was a drug dealer but she didn't know she was THAT big a drug dealer. Most dealers couldn't afford to drop that sort of money in a day. And the dealers she knew likely had never even heard of the French Riviera.

"You must have been a pretty big dealer," Nichols said. This time Diaz actually turned to look at her.

Alex shrugged the comment off. "I made a lot of money. Got a lot of prison time too."

"So you were like a kingpin."

Alex laughed. "No. I was upper management. You got street guys, you know corner guys. They bought from a guy who bought from a local kingpin, that guy bought from another guy who bought from me. All organizations work different but I answered to a guy who dealt directly with the Cartel. I was an importer, high on the food chain but not high enough that I didn't have to worry about getting my head blown off if I fucked something up. It was very stressful, but lucrative."

Nichols nodded with amazement. "You were a big shot then."

"Yeah, you should have seen my perp walk. The feds marched me out of my house at the crack of dawn in panties and a tee-shirt."

Nichols laughed. That was nothing. She'd been through worse on a half dozen Saturday nights in Manhattan.

"So this girl you took, tell me she at least put out."

Alex laughed, Nichols knew she wouldn't answer the question but her smile was all the answer she needed.

"I mean because spending eighty grand earns you swinging from the chandelier sex in my book. That gets you a threesome, or a foursome. Whatever you're into."

"It was the best week of my life."

Nichols nodded with a naughty smile. "Threesome it is."

Alex rolled her eyes. "No threesome. Just the two of us. We did stuff like that a lot. Spain, Monte Carlo, Rio de Janeiro."

"She must have been really special," Nichols said before reality slapped her in the face. "No. Tell me it wasn't with her."

Alex turned a light shade of red but it faded almost instantly and she put back on her poker face.

"Chapman. You did all this with Chapman?" Nichols didn't believe in jealousy. The junkie had sucked all the jealousy out of her long ago. All the jealously, all the shame, all the pride, they were all distant memories. Still hearing she'd done all this with Chapman sucked a little.

"She was my girl, I treated her nice," was all Alex said.

Nichols only shook her head. "What the hell happened between you two? You went from being in love to not speaking for ten years. You had a condo together or something. I remember you said you lived together."

"A flat. We had a flat together."

"A flat. You mean like in London?"

"Paris."

Nichols ran her hand through her ragged blonde hair. "Paris. You guys lived together in Paris?"

"And in Malaysia for a while."

Nichols picked through the Scrabble tiles in front of her. "So what happened?"

Alex shrugged. "It ended. Badly."

* * *

Diaz, Flaca and Maritza:

"No fucking way. Vouse? The big girl with the glasses," Flaca asked with a healthy dose of skepticism?

Maritza nodded eagerly. "No she's right, I heard some of the guards talking about it. She's in here for trafficking, I know that much. Mendez was telling one of the other guards that she's hooked up with some Cartel so they should be careful not to fuck with her too much."

Diaz nodded. "She was really hooked up I guess. She was like upper management. My guy Cesar was the man back home and he wouldn't have been able to get in the same room with her," she shook her head and offered a wicked smile. "If he wasn't such a dumbass I'd try to get him hooked up but he'd probably just get his dumb ass killed."

Maritza laughed. "Fucking tell me about it. My man Juvy got shot on the corner arguing over a quarter ounce. He didn't die or nothing but he clearly can't be trusted to handle business. He needs the drug dealer Special Ed program. He wouldn't last a week with a cartel before he fucked up the count or something stupid like that. That's why I'm in here now, he sold to an undercover. This motherfucker comes on the block wearing LeBron's. Nobody from the hood wear that shit. I told Juvy, Yo dude is off brand, he setting you up. Dumb ass didn't listen. They kicked my fucking door down and put both our asses in jail. Normally if he step up I get a pass and they don't charge me, but nope. This asshole swings at the cop, not only did he get knocked the fucked out but they gave us both time."

Diaz and Flaca both laughed as Maritza told her story. Diaz had been mixed up with dealers her whole life, she knew the streets and the players on them. Cesar was cool. He put food on the table and handled his business but he wasn't cut out for the big time. He didn't have the foresight to see all the players on the board. He was an excellent Checkers player but the big money was in Chess.

"If you think that's fucked up listen to this. Vouse was a baller and guess who her bottom bitch was," Diaz asked with a proud and confident smile.

Maritza shrugged and Flaca arched an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Fucking Chapman," Diaz said with playful confidence.

Maritza's mouth shot open. "Blondie?"

"Fucking Blondie. Walks around here with her college nose in the air and she fucking a dealer just like the rest of us."

Flaca shook her head. "I thought she was in for money laundering or something."

"Yeah, fucking Vouse's money," Maritza said not bothering to hide her excitement.

"I knew they were fucking but damn, it's like that?" Flaca said with a tone Diaz couldn't decipher. Flaca had always had a problem with gays. She didn't explain why and Diaz had never asked but she could tell there was a lingering issue boiling below the surface. Truth be told Diaz wasn't sure Flaca didn't have her eye on Maritza but she'd never actually say that out loud. Flaca was the type to stab first and talk later.

"It's like that. They had a condo in Paris, and another one in Malaysia. Vouse used to spend mad money on her. She took her to the Riviera in France. Flew that bitch first class. Bought her a necklace from Tiffany's and let her go on a crazy shopping spree. She spent like eighty thousand dollars in one day on clothes and shit."

Maritza nodded eagerly. "That's what I'm talking about right there. Juvy used to drop me some money to keep me looking nice but he never let me get down like that. I need to find a man who gone take care of me like that. I mean I already showed I got heart. I got popped with my guy and I didn't rat or nothing. That gotta count for something right?"

Diaz nodded. "Hell yeah it does. A man needs to know you got his back."

"So are Chapman and Vouse like married or something," Flaca asked?

"I don't think so. Vouse said they used to go all these places and shit, Rio de Janeiro, Monte Carlo, Spain, but something happened and they didn't talk no more. I don't think they had talked since Chapman showed up in here."

"I wonder what happened," Flaca said softly. "They looked okay a while ago."

Maritza shook her head, "Not now though. They don't talk no more at all."

"I don't know what happened, Nichols asked but Vouse didn't say," Diaz explained.

"I bet Vouse kicked her ass. I bet Chapman started acting all superior and Vouse had to beat her down a bit. I mean it happens, some bitches don't know they place." Maritza seemed excited by the idea of Chapman getting her ass kicked but Diaz chalked it up to jealousy. Women inside got that way sometimes, agitated and envious. "You know how those suburb types are though, the first time they man act up a little they bolt."

Diaz nodded. "You try letting a grown man punch you in the face see if your ass don't bolt."

Flaca laughed. "I can take an ass whopping if I fuck up but I ain't no damn punchin bag."

"Eighty thousand dollars' worth of Gucci and Prada and shit. Jewelry. Trips around the world to fancy places. Flying first class. You wouldn't take a punch every now and then for that shit? And it's not like it's some dude punching you, it's a girl," Maritza teased.

"You gotta lick her cha cha though," Diaz added. "You lick cha cha? Because if she dropping all this money on you she gonna want to fuck you."

Maritza shrugged with a devilish smile. "Do I gotta tell people? Do people gotta know I'm fucking her?"

Diaz laughed out loud. "No, I guess not. Have that bitch move you to Paris, or Puerto Rico or some shit. Don't call home or nothing. Nobody gotta know you like licking the cha cha."

Maritza rose off her bunk and slammed her hands on her hips. "Well count me in then."

Diaz and Flaca hooted and hollered approvals. Diaz knew Maritza was just kidding, her daughter was off with a gay cousin and she'd heard the girl worry about her well-being even though deep down in her heart she knew it was the safest place for her. Away from the gangs and drugs and danger of the big city. The baby had her own room, her own toys and a stable life. Diaz loved her children but if it was HER daughter in that set up, dykes or no, she'd leave the girl where she was.

"But Chapman ended up in prison," Flaca said diplomatically. "If you fuck her you go to prison."

Diaz just shrugged. "We're in prison anyway. And we didn't get to travel around the world."

"Hell no," Maritza added.

* * *

Chapman:

Chapman curled up comfortably in her bunk and cracked open her book. She'd been spending a lot of time reading these days. Her bunk was the safest place for her lately. She didn't have to see Alex in her bunk with her nose buried in a book. Nichols would come by occasionally to chat but there was something off about the interactions that she couldn't quite put her finger on. There was a tension that wasn't there before. Alex had likely spilled the beans about all of her indiscretions. Nichols was probably weary of being friends with the sort of person who could leave her girlfriend of a few years when she was most in need of her love and support. Even a friendly support.

"Hey," the voice said softly. It took Chapman actually raising her head to put a face to it.

"Hi," she responded softly.

"Flaca," the girl said softly.

Chapman nodded. "I know," she lied.

Flaca smiled. "Can I talk to you?"

Chapman shrugged. This didn't sit right. She didn't have a beef with the Hispanic crew but she couldn't remember having a conversation with any of them but little Diaz.

"Sure, come in."

Flaca stepped in and looked around as if inspecting the place. "What you reading?"

Chapman flashed her a copy of her book. "The Iliad."

Flaca only nodded. "What did he do? Build something? Like Noah's Ark."

"Ever hear of a Trojan Horse," Chapman asked not expecting much.

"You mean like the Greek thing where the people hid inside?"

Impressed Chapman nodded. "Yeah. That's what it's about. Well it's the whole thing, not just the part about the Horse. I'm going to start the Odyssey next."

"Achilles and Zeus."

Chapman smiled. "Achilles and Zeus."

Flaca's mouth began to form the edges of smile but something inside her changed and she frowned.

"What did you do to get in here?" The girl finally asked. The friendliness that had been in her tone a mere second ago was gone. The words were hard and cold, impersonal.

"Why?"

Flaca looked over her shoulder then swung on the balls of her feet and left without saying another word.

"Weird," Chapman muttered to herself.

"What's weird?" Chapman recognized the voice right away this time. Morello.

"Nothing," Chapman said not in the sharing mood. Besides whatever Flaca's problem was she got the feeling she wouldn't be happy with her blabbing it all over the prison.

"Quick question. So I know she knocked you around a little bit so this may not be the sort of thing you want me drudging up but I was thinking of going to Spain on my honeymoon and I know you and Vause used to live there and I wanted the rundown."

Chapman's head almost exploded. "Wait, who hit me? And I used to live where?"

Morello didn't blink. "Vause. She smacked you around while you lived in Spain."

Chapman almost screamed. "Fucking prison. Sit down, let me tell you about Spain. And she never beat me up. That's crazy."

Morello nodded quickly. "Of course it is," she said robotically. Chapman knew there was nothing she could say that would change her mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Piper, Poussey and Taystee:

Piper slid her red checker across the board but at this point she understood it was completely useless. She'd chosen red because red had always been her favorite color and Poussey had chosen black because, well, according to Poussey it was better than being any other color. Piper ignored the racially charged statement with eager sportsmanship but there was no point. Poussey had to be the world's best checkers player. She'd pressed Piper for a wager before they played, winner owes the loser two candy bars. Piper was confident in her checker skills but all the books she'd read before coming to prison had warned against gambling. It was a good thing too because they played three times and Poussey had won all three. It wasn't until she lost the second game that she realized she was being hustled. Or at least she would have been had she been stupid enough to gamble.

"I heard when you got out of line the bitch put the smack down on that ass," Poussey said with an arrogant smile. She even offered a mock backhanded slap as a demo, in case Piper didn't quite understand what 'smack down' meant. Piper had been fending off comments about Alex all morning long and for the life of her couldn't understand why people all of a sudden saw her as some sort of victim. Nothing about their relationship, then or now, hinted at violence. If anything quite the opposite. Alex was a pussycat. She came off hard and cold but in reality she was sensitive and easily manipulated. A little sex could always take the edge off.

"She did not beat me. Where the hell is that coming from," Piper demanded to know? The truth didn't seem to matter in prison. Nobody seemed to care that she'd been denying it for hours. The whole prison seemed to think it was true and half the population seemed to think she deserved it.

Taystee offered a confused shrug. "I heard it from Pennsatucky. She was telling her congregation how the lord always found a way to smite the wicked."

Poussey laughed wildly. "She called it the backhand of Jesus."

Taystee joined in on the laughter and Piper forced herself not to laugh right along with them. Doggett had always been a bit of a nut but she had to admit the backhand of Jesus was a bit funny.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Piper said not willing to give the girl's words any power. Her brother Cal always said the worst thing you could do for an insult was acknowledge it by laughing or making a scene. His plan, ignore it. It seemed like a stupid strategy at the time but Piper had to acknowledge she didn't have a better one at the moment.

"I've heard some dumb shit, but that's kind of funny," Taystee said still laughing.

"Hell yeah it is," Poussey said letting the smile fall from her face. "I heard yall lived in some mansion in Paris." She shook her head with sudden pity. "I bet the Feds confiscated that shit didn't they? They always take everything when they pop you for dealing. I had a Lexus with some bad ass chrome rims and a sound system you could hear from a mile away. The Feds snatched all that shit."

"You were a dealer?" Piper didn't know what half the girls were inside for. Most of them were in for drug related crimes, using usually. She wasn't surprised to hear Poussey had been involved in the drug world. After the checkers debacle Piper decided Poussey was sneaky and sneaky people always made the best dealers. Alex was super sneaky.

"I wasn't exactly a dealer. I was more like a professional transporter. I would move this from here to there. I had a whole team of people working for me too. One of them got popped though and got us all twisted. Here I am."

Piper's antennae went up. "Transporter? Locally or nationally?"

Poussey's eyebrows arched. "Just from one spot to the next usually."

"Would you be opposed to getting on a plane every once in a while?"

It was Taystee's turn to arch an eyebrow. "You sound like you got work for her. You setting up yo own little crew or something when you get out Chapman?"

Piper laughed. "I don't have anything to do with anything. I'm just saying you have marketable skills. I mean you clearly have a good mind for business, it's possible to make that play to your advantage when you get out of here. I know people who can maybe use you."

"Listen to Chapman, did you learn all this shit at Yale?" Poussey was smiling but Piper knew that sort of smile. It was the same smile Polly had given her when she suggested starting their soap business. Cautious interest masked with a smile.

"I went to Smith actually and I didn't learn it there. I learned it living with Alex."

Taystee smiled and nodded. "She was a fucking baller on the outside wasn't she? You let her tap that ass and she kept you chillin in the mansion in furs and pearls with maids and butlers and shit huh?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Do I look like I have a butler?"

Taystee and Poussey both nodded in unison. "A little bit yeah," Poussey said.

Piper did laugh this time. In prison image was everything and once the population saw you in a certain light it was almost impossible to alter that image. She came across as upper class. Upper class rich girl, even if it couldn't be further from the truth.

Out of the corner of her eye Piper watched as the young Hispanic girls stepped into the room. Both were still wearing jackets fresh from outside and Piper found herself wondering what girls like that did to find themselves in here. They were both so young, so pretty. Were they gang members? Did they rob liquor stores?

"Hey, what do you guys know about those girls?" Piper asked.

Taystee and Poussey both looked over their shoulders at the young Hispanic girls and shrugged. "Nothing, they keep to the Barrio. I don't know what the word is on them."

Taystee shrugged. "Me either."

It was almost as if they'd heard them because the pretty girl who had stopped by her cube yesterday looked in her direction and stared. Piper instinctively looked away, suddenly nervous.

She heard the girl say something in Spanish to the other and they both laughed and kept walking.

"Hey," Piper yelled across the room. "Flaca."

The girl stopped in her tracks and whipped her head around expecting something, what Piper didn't know, but she could tell it wasn't pleasant. Something flashed across the girl's face and Piper found herself wishing she had kept her mouth shut.

"What you want puta," Maritza said with a smirk.

Piper swallowed hard. "Drug trafficking and money laundering. Plead out to 15 months. Larry's father is a lawyer and he had some pull with the Federal Prosecutor. They played golf together or something."

Flaca only stared. Maritza gave her a confused glance but the girl didn't bother explaining herself to her friend. Instead she offered a quick nod.

"I want that book when you're finished," she said before walking away.

Poussey shook her head. "That bitch is terrifying. Steer clear of that one Chapman. She look like she a hang nail away from killing us all in our sleep."

Taystee laughed uncomfortably. "If you thought the ass whooping Vause gave you was bad that bitch look like she don't take no back talk. She'd a been killed yo fancy talking ass Chapman."

"Indubitably," Poussey said softening the mood.

* * *

Red and Murphy:

"Chapman is putting a crew together so Vause can get up and running when she gets out. I heard her talking to Poussey about working for her," Murphy said as she worked on peeling a batch of potatoes.

Red scoffed. "Poussey. What can Poussey offer them?"

Murphy shrugged. "I think Poussey said she was in transportation. Maybe she was a driver or something."

Red seemed to mull it over then offered a half a nod. "What else?"

Murphy looked as if her head was going to explode. "I didn't hear the rest. Those Mexican girls came in. The young ones. Chapman was asking about the dark one."

"The dark one? Which one is the dark one, they all look the same to me."

Murphy shook her head. "Not the really pretty one, the other one. The one who always looks like she's pissed off, that kind of dark."

Red seemed to understand THIS explanation. "What did Chapman want with her?"

"I think they talk or something. Chapman ran down her sheet for the Mexican girl and then the girl said something about her books."

Red considered this briefly. "What did Chapman say she was in for?"

"Drug trafficking and money laundering. That guy Larry she was with, his dad had some kind of in with the prosecutor and he was able to cut Chapman a plea deal. 15 months."

Red nodded impressed. "So she's not just a pretty face. I wondered why she was with that schlub. I saw him in the waiting room, he didn't look like much. It was his father they needed to be close to. Smart. These are very smart girls."

Murphy nodded. "What do you think they want with the Mexican girls?"

Red shrugged. "Something on the outside probably. If Chapman is putting money on the girl's commissary books she's doing something for them."

"I heard that Larry guy dumped Chapman. He came up to the prison and visited with Alex and she said a bunch of nasty stuff to him about Chapman and then he ended it with her over the phone."

Red laughed. "He served his purpose, this way he leaves with his dignity. He won't be a problem for them now I suppose."

Murphy shook her head. "Probably not. He didn't seem very smart."

"Not at all," Red said in agreement.

"If he was going to be a problem they'd probably have to kill him," Murphy considered briefly.

"That one won't cause a problem. They let him nurse his bruised pride by dumping HER and now he'll do what all men do when they have their hearts broken. He'll whore around. He won't look back," Red said with confidence. "They never do. Men have a saying. The only way to get over old pussy is with new pussy."

Murphy giggled. "My dad used to tell my brother that."

Red giggled right along with her. "So did mine."

* * *

Alex:

Visiting day was always exciting. It was nice knowing that despite being locked away like an animal at the zoo, people hadn't forgotten about you. Alex's visitors usually consisted of a steady stream of ex-girlfriends and ex-employees. At least ones she hadn't ratted out when the feds arrested her. As expected those visitors had tapered off after the first few weeks then became non-existent. Prison served as a reminder of just how lonely you actually were. Nobody cared.

When the empire crumbled it crumbled hard. The government were experts at tearing down an organization root to stem. Alex had seemingly lost everything in the arrest. Seemingly. Her summer cottage in Cancun. Gone. Confiscated by the feds. Her farmhouse in San Martino Italy. Gone. Confiscated by the Feds. She'd loved that farmhouse more than life itself. It was her retirement house. A place to rest her weary head one day when life was too fast. When the government told her that it was now THEIR Italian Farmhouse she nearly cried.

Of course it wasn't all bad news. There were places in the world you could park your money where the bean counters at the American Internal Revenue Service could never find it. Alex had made a lot of money over the years. A lot of money. More than any one person could spend and after growing up poor she'd been diligent about saving for a rainy day. The government had found millions of dollars when they arrested her and when they smugly told her that her empire was over she cried. She had to do something and crying seemed the thing to do. In truth they hadn't found a third of her nest egg which meant she was still a very wealthy woman.

Of course none of this mattered in prison. If she told anybody she had money stashed someplace one of two things would happen. The person she told would either try to find a way to steal it, or they'd trade the information for an early release. Either way she'd be screwed. Royally screwed, so she kept the information to herself. Piper knew. Well she did if she had been paying attention all those years ago but Alex didn't worry about Piper. She may be a selfish narcissist but she wasn't a stool pigeon or a thief. She'd never steal from Alex.

"You look well," the blonde woman said with practiced intimacy. Alex would never get used to this. The familiar hug and soft quick stolen kiss on the lips. The playful banter. It would never be normal but normal isn't what she looked for when she set this up. Normal was REAL friends and family.

"So do you. So what do we have on the docket today Rosalie?" Alex hadn't known the woman before she'd gone into the system. She'd never laid eyes on her until she strutted into the visiting room like she owned the place that first time. She knew for a fact that the woman's name wasn't Rosalie Kennedy. She knew that because she'd invented the name herself at home on her computer. Not only the name but the birthday and the history. It seemed silly at the time but now she couldn't imagine life without Rosalie.

"I'm refinishing the floors in my kitchen," 'Not really Rosalie' said with a familiar smile.

"The oak. You hate oak," Alex teased.

'Not really Rosalie' shrugged. "It's the natural wood, it would be a sin to pull it up."

Going to prison sucked. Being separated from everyone and everything familiar was a cruel torment. Alex had never had a lot of friends. She had business associates and she had Piper. Her business associates weren't the type to visit you in prison and when she'd gotten arrested they'd given her a number to a law firm to call in Columbia if she ever needed anything. It was a foregone conclusion that she'd do the time and wouldn't rat. Of course Alex did rat but she informed down not up. She gave up all her underlings not already mixed up in the indictment. This included Piper. Of course this was considered a bad thing to do in her world but it was an unspoken reality, everyone did it. Drug sentences were stiff. If you held strong you could spend the rest of your life inside. One of Alex's contemporaries received thirty years. She admired his loyalty but didn't understand how to toe the line. The bosses didn't care if people went to jail. They cared if THEY went to jail.

Of course Alex felt bad about Piper but she'd done what she had to do. Piper seemed to land okay anyway. 15 months wasn't that long in the scheme of things. And she hadn't actually laid eyes on Piper in almost 10 years, she didn't even feel like a real person at the time anymore. The fact that they ended up together in the same prison seemed a cruel thing for the feds to do. It wasn't until she laid eyes on her that she realized she actually missed her. When Piper left she had no problem filling her bed on cold nights but it wasn't the same.

Knowing she didn't have any family or close friends it was her employers at the Cartel who had given her the number of the service where she met Rosalie. For a fee they'd arrange regular visits from 'friends' to keep your spirits up. There was something about always having mail coming in, always being on the visitors list, always having someone to call, that made the time go by easier they said. Alex took them at their word.

Her conversations with 'Not really Rosalie' were always casual, always meaningless chit chat, but Alex preferred it that way. 'Not really Rosalie' was a simple girl. She cared about simple things. There was no drama in HER life. Alex's drama eclipsed it all. Her letters were always long but never very informative or in depth and they came twice a week like clockwork. Tuesdays and Fridays with a visit once a month and extra during the Holidays. It was insanely expensive, when she'd been told how much the whole charade would cost she'd almost refused it. Her boss had insisted she take it and explained to her that even though it seemed like a stupid waste of money a few months in she'd thank heaven she had spent the money. Sitting in the visitors room Alex couldn't agree with him more.

"So how was the Christmas pageant? You wrote me it was coming up but you didn't tell me what happened afterwards."

Alex sighed. "Piper happened. She got into this huge fight with Doggett. She knocked all Doggett's teeth out and got sent to the SHU. And to make matters worse everybody in here knows we were together and now they all think I used to beat her."

'Not really Rosalie' smiled. "Did you?"

Alex laughed. "Not you too."

She just shrugged. "I had to ask. She sounds like she needs a good kick in the pants. You said she knocked this girl's teeth out though, maybe it's good you didn't try to beat her. She may be able to take you."

* * *

Alex and Piper:

"I saw your new girlfriend in the visitor's room screaming like a maniac," Alex teased like a child.

"I thought we weren't talking to each other. Since I got out of the SHU you haven't even looked at me," Piper's eyebrows arched with interest, she was trying to be cool like Alex but she wasn't even close to Alex. She had to ask. "What new girlfriend?"

"The Goth Mexican girl with the X-ray vision," Alex said with her usual dismissive charm.

Piper fought back a smile. "Flaca. And we're friends. We talked about the Iliad. I'm loaning it to her when I'm done reading it."

Alex offered a look of disbelief. "She's going to read Homer?"

"God, racist much," Piper threw out.

"I'm not a racist she just doesn't strike me as a reader, especially not a reader of Homer."

"You said you saw her in the visitor's room. Who visited you? Another one of your skanky exes?"

"Rosalie."

"Some whore you banged no doubt."

"Says the girl who screwed me in a chapel of all places while she was engaged to a man."

Larry again. Piper didn't bite. "Seriously are we friends again?"

"It appears so, seeing as how if you refuse apparently I'll probably beat the shit out of you."

Piper smiled but couldn't allow herself to let go of Alex's visitor. "So who is Rosalie?"

Alex was doing her thinking face. "Don't you dare lie to me, I always know when you're thinking up a lie." That wasn't always true but Alex didn't know that.

"She's a friend. Somebody I met before I went it. She visits and writes me letters to help me pass the time."

Piper scoffed. "Did you sleep with her?"

Alex laughed. "Rosalie. God no."

"You're saying that like she doesn't look like Claudia Schiffer."

Alex's laugh fell away but her smile didn't. "I thought you didn't know who she was. So you've seen her."

Piper's face turned red, she couldn't see it but she could feel it. The cat was out of the bag. "I may have noticed the tall leggy blonde who always visits you and writes you letters and takes your calls."

Alex nodded. "It's not sexual. Not that it's any of YOUR business anymore."

Piper opened her mouth to defend herself but it was at that moment that Nichols stepped into her cube with her hands on her hips. She stared at them each briefly, a look of curiosity on her face, but whatever she wanted to know she pushed it someplace deep down.

"Just the two ladies I'm looking for. I come on business. Red has a proposition for you guys."

Alex and Piper exchanged curious glances but Nichols didn't let up.

"She knows you two are working on getting your business up and running for when you get out of here. She heard you've been talking to Poussey and Elvira about business and she's offended you didn't come to her first."

Piper shook her head and opened her mouth again to talk but this time it was Alex who cut her off.

"We know Red has her own thing going and we know how she feels about our particular business. We didn't want to offend her," Alex lied effortlessly.

Nichols nodded. "She gets that. Still, on the outside she has very important Russian friends. She figured her friends and your friends can sit down and talk business. Her friends are looking for friends in your line of work. Of course Red says they'll be a finder's fee for you guys."

Alex laughed. "I know what that means. I get a hundred grand to go away while somebody else makes millions. No fucking way. We want in. I lost everything with this bust and I need to rebuild. They even took my vacation house in Cancun."

"Red doubts you lost everything," Nichols said smiling but she shrugged anyway. "Either way she heard about Chapman's soap business on the outside. They'd be willing to make bulk buys for transportation purposes."

"Bulk buys?" Piper asked.

Both Alex and Nichols looked at her as if she had two heads and reality struck her like a bolt of lightning to the brain. They'd use her soap to traffic their drugs.

"I have a partner on the outside who wouldn't last a second in here," Piper said nervously. "If she got arrested she'd flip without question."

Alex reached over and grabbed Pipers forearm. "What Piper is trying to say is that the orders have to be legit from her end. She ships her soap to you and you guys do whatever you want to do with it and leave her out of it. That way there's nothing for anybody to worry about from her end."

Nichols didn't seem to be concerned about this. "I'll pass that along to Red."

"Anything else we need to discuss?" Alex asked.

Nichols shrugged. "Not right now. The next conversation you'll be having with Red personally though. She's going to reach out to her people, you should do the same."

Alex nodded. "Did you at least get a finder's fee?"

Nichol's finally smiled. "Who am I Tony Montana? I don't want anywhere near this thing. I'll get high and show up to the meetings in Supergirl panties or something and get my head blown off."

Piper laughed at the image of Nichols walking around in cartoon underwear while a room full of important big shots were trying to have a meeting. It was a ridiculous sight.

"Okay," Alex said still eyeing Nichols carefully. "I'll find you in ten minutes and we can play Scrabble."

This perked Nichols up a bit and Piper's stomach turned at the woman's smile. Instead of saying anything though, she kept her mouth shut. Alex could play Scrabble with whomever she wanted. As Nichols walked away Piper shifted her attention back to Alex.

"What the hell was that?"

Alex shrugged. "Opportunity. It's not like your little conversation with Poussey was just for shits and giggles. She came to me earlier today and said YOU said we might be able to use her. Not I, WE, may able to use her. You're so in."

"But," Piper started to say but she couldn't think of anything.

Alex found the words for her. "This totally doesn't mean we're back together."

"Of course not."

"And what about Elvira?"

Piper shrugged. "That's nothing. It has nothing to do with this. We're just friends. Regular friends."

Alex eyed her curiously and didn't bother trying to argue it. She clearly didn't believe one word of it though, not one word.

**So this was supposed to be a one shot but as I finished it and I got more and more alerts I realized I could do something fun with it for a few more chapters. My tangent on Alex's visit is a part of this expansion of the character. I didn't expect it to go past one chapter so I don't know where I'm going with it so give me a little latitude to figure it out as I go. I hope you're enjoying it though and keep reading. **


	3. Chapter 3

Mendoza, Daya, and Diaz:

"Asked me to clean the showers like I'm some fucking maid," Mendoza said not bothering to hide her frustration. She'd been bitching about being taken off kitchen detail since it happened but today she'd been put on the cleaning crew and the perceived insult seemed to stick in her craw.

"That's because you're fucking Mexican, they put us and the blacks on cleaning because they don't think we're smart enough to do nothing else," Diaz nodded with confidence. "They don't put none of the white girls on cleaning."

Daya shook her head. "They got some of Doggett's girls on cleaning crews."

Mendoza huffed. "That's because they're fucking tweakers. You can't trust crackheads around food and shit, they'll fucking steal it all or something. You know what the fuck they're like, I know your momma taught you something. Even if she didn't bother trying to teach you Spanish."

Diaz smirked. "The other fucking kids all know Spanish, she doesn't. You can't blame that shit on me."

Mendoza nodded her head in agreement. "I bet she knows all the words to Lady Gaga and all that other white girl shit," she laughed and turned her attention to Daya. "Hey who was Cesar Chavez Daya? The guy who mopped the floors at your high school?"

Diaz laughed loudly causing Daya to roll her eyes. She knew better than to defend herself. Once they got going they'd keep going until they got bored. The more she tried to defend herself the worse it would get. Instead of getting upset she decided to change the subject.

"What would Chapman and Vause want with Flaca?"

Mendoza and Diaz stopped their teasing and turned their attention to Daya. "What do you mean, what did you hear?"

Daya shrugged. "Not much, just that Flaca is setting something up on the outside for them. They're supposed to be putting a bunch of money in commissary for her. I heard they're going to max her out. Enough money to last her the spending limit for a year at least."

"Flaca only has two years left before her first early release hearing, the most you can have is five grand in your account, that's almost enough to last her the whole time," Mendoza contemplated.

Daya did the math in her head and disagreed. With a $290 spending limit in commissary a month $5000 would only last you a little over seventeen months. Again she kept her mouth shut.

"What did you hear she's doing for them," Diaz asked her daughter.

Daya shrugged. "I didn't hear nothing."

"Whatever it is it has to be big. You know they're setting up a crew already for when they get out. Maybe even before I think. I heard Red is talking to some people for them. I can't imagine what Flaca is doing for them."

"I'm a little pissed she didn't let us in on it," Diaz said. She didn't know what was going on but it wasn't a big surprise to find out Flaca hadn't shared. Flaca wasn't a sharer and they all knew the more people who knew about a thing, the more likely you were to get caught.

"I don't blame her though. Her cousin just left and gave her the good news. She got into Dental school, gonna be a doctor. I can't imagine Flaca wants to hang around in here any longer than she has to. She did her job and got her cousin to college, now when she gets out I heard Anna has a room for her at her place. Out the hood and away from all the street bullshit."

"Her cousin is gonna be a dentist?" Daya didn't know much about Flaca. Unlike Maritza Flaca didn't waste time teasing her or giving her a hard time. She was polite in private but around the others she was one of the gang. Daya could tell the teasing wasn't personal with Flaca like it was with some of the others. It was just one of those things you did to get by inside.

Diaz nodded. "Yeah, her name is Anna, she's really smart I guess. Flaca looked out for her back home, helped her stay out of trouble so she could get away from the bullshit of the neighborhood. Got her into college. After her first year she came back for the summer and went to this party, didn't tell Flaca about it cause she knew Flaca wouldn't have let her go. Some dude put something in her drink and did stuff to her when she was passed out. When Flaca found out she went ballistic, she took her cousin to one of those centers where you talk to people about it. It cost a bunch of money so she hit off a check cashing store or something to pay for it. She paid her cousin's way and once the girl was squared away she found the dude that raped her. Beat him with a baseball bat."

"Yeah, he can't walk no more. She broke his back or some shit. Dick don't even work no more, he gotta piss into one of those bags. Roll around in a wheel chair and shit. His momma even had to build him one of those ramps," Mendoza added almost smiling.

"The hood showed her love though, nobody ratted her out. The dude she beat down, his brother went to her people and called it square. They knew he was a pervert or something I guess but he was family you know, they couldn't rat him out. Nobody mess with Anna no more after that either. Still the cops popped her for the cash store. She got seven years."

Daya was floored, she'd never heard that story before. She didn't doubt it though, Flaca had the evil eyes. She believed every word of it. "That's crazy."

Diaz rose to her feet and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "No, that's LOVE baby." Mendoza again nodded her agreement.

* * *

[Flashback] Flaca: 3 Years ago

"You, make, me, feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream," Flaca sang as she sat behind the wheel of her black Ford Mustang GT. The streets of Hartsdale NY were quiet during the summer. At least for people her age, everyone home from college spent most of their time at the beach. Flaca had given up the beach today to spend the afternoon shopping with Anna.

"This is boring Fifi. We should be going to a party. Your mom said curfew was 2AM tonight. 2AM, we could head into the city."

Flaca shrugged her shoulders. "Angel baby we can't be out in public like that. The last thing we need is to be out partying and end up drunk and making out in some closet somewhere. Somebody is bound to see us and tell her, then what?"

Anna shrugged with disinterest. "I don't know Fifi. What?"

Flaca ignored Anna's snarky tone and focused herself on the task at hand. "She'll stop paying for my college, take away my Mustang, and make me get a job. And that's if she doesn't kick me out of the house. Remember what she said when I told her I was taking you to prom?"

Anna laughed. "She flipped."

Flaca's mother wasn't a fan of homosexuality. She was old school Hispanic and die hard Catholic. The joke alone had gotten her grounded for a week. Flaca had decided never to tell the woman about her and Anna. She wouldn't understand. She'd never understand.

"Yeah, and she thought I was joking. No way. Another six weeks and we'll be back at school and things will go back to normal. Parties on the weekends, sleeping in bed together every night. We can suffer through summers at home for that kind of freedom right?"

Anna nodded but Flaca recognized the nod. It was her agreeing to end the conversation nod. It didn't at all mean she was convinced.

"What?" She finally asked Anna. She couldn't stomach another night of fighting. They'd been doing way too much of that lately.

"It's boring here. Remember that girl Megan from Gamma?"

Flaca rolled her eyes. "Fucking Gammas, you can't be seriously thinking of going to a Gamma party."

"God you're so stuck up Fifi. You and your snooty friends at Alpha Chi Omega. I never met a group of girls so stuck on themselves. You know they only let you in to be the token Mexican girl. So they can claim they're diverse and don't discriminate. If your parents didn't have money they'd have never let you join."

"Oh yeah, it didn't have nothing to do with me graduating first in my high school class and being a good person."

"If they knew you were a lesbian they wouldn't have picked you."

"They know. I told my sisters about us. I'm not just the token Mexican, I'm the token lesbian too."

"The stuck up Mexican lesbian," Anna said teasing.

Flaca gave herself a once over. She wasn't stuck up. Anna didn't know what she was talking about. She had nice stuff because her parents worked hard in college and got good jobs. It wasn't HER fault people looked down on her for that.

"I'm not stuck up. I just think those Gamma girls are a bunch of posers. I mean Megan said she danced for Nelly," Flaca gave Anna an arched eyebrow. "Nelly, Anna. He's a rapper. Do rappers even have dancers? And where the hell would she have even met Nelly? And have you seen her dance? She looks like Elaine from Seinfeld."

Anna laughed. "Okay maybe she's a bit of a liar but the party tonight is real. We can go. We can totally go and be back before your mom even realizes we're gone. And if you go with me I'll do that thing you like tonight. You know the thing I mean."

Flaca considered it for a moment then shook her head. Anna looked good today in her short black skirt and halter top, her long black hair braided down her back to her cute little ass. She looked mouth-watering good and it had been so long since they'd had sex she was nearly bursting at the seams. Still this party wasn't a good idea. "Six weeks Angel baby. Six weeks and we'll be back at Columbia and we won't have to lie, or hide, or worry about curfew. It's not that long. We have to be smart."

Anna nodded this time the defeat was all over her face. "Fine. Drop me off at home and I'll call you later and we can do what we always do, go see a movie, have dinner and be home before ten, just like an old married couple."

Flaca smiled and nodded. "It's not as bad as all that." Anna just shrugged.

**After midnight:**

Her stomach was roiling by the time she got the call. Her head spinning, her body numb. Anna had totally ditched her and went off to the party in the city anyway. Flaca decided in those lost hours she spent worried about her that Anna and she were officially done. They'd been together for three years, since junior year of high school. Three years of love and honesty and trust but lately they'd grown apart. Anna was growing restless of the life they'd built together. Flaca wanted nothing more than for life to be simple. She didn't need parties and excitement and clubs. All she wanted was a nice house, a meaningful and fulfilling career and somebody to share those things with. She'd thought that somebody was Anna. In her dreams it was always Anna. Lately though she wasn't so sure. Anna needed more, she needed fun and late nights and memories. She couldn't hold Anna back anymore. If she wanted to live life in the fast lane then she was more than happy to let her spread her wings and fly. Solo.

That was before the phone rang. It was nearly midnight when her cell began to buzz. She was halfway through her third bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream when Anna's number flashed across her cell. She briefly entertained the idea of ignoring the call, letting it go to voice mail and spending the rest of the night sulking. She fought off the selfish thoughts and answered on the third ring. Instead of a drunken apology she got tears, hard sobbing tears.

"Angel what's wrong?"

Anna sniffed hard. "I need you to come get me."

"What happened? Are you okay?" Flaca didn't understand this. Her Anna wasn't a crier. She was a whiner but not a crier.

"Fifi I need you to come, I need you to come right now to get me. I'm at that diner in Manhattan. The one we went to when you told me you loved me that first time."

Something churned in Flaca's stomach. Something heavy that made her heart hurt. Something was wrong. She grabbed her keys and ran out the door without even bothering to put on her shoes.

* * *

Alex and Nichols:

"She broke a guy's back with a baseball bat?" Alex wanted to argue it, prison had a way of enhancing your story towards the dramatic. She would know. All of a sudden she was a vicious girlfriend beating drug lord. Still there was something about the Hispanic girl that gave her the creeps. Something about the look in her eyes. A combination of anger and distance. The sort of look she'd grown familiar with in her world. A look that said she'd do whatever she deemed necessary, damn the consequences.

"That's what I hear. But I don't think she's inside for that. I think she robbed something to pay for the counseling and got caught," Nichols had volunteered this information with a smile and something that bordered on eagerness. Alex didn't understand why Nichols was so happy to share but she soaked up the information anyway.

Alex wanted to dislike the Latina. She looked like somebody she shouldn't like. Young and pretty with dangerous eyes and confidence that served you well in a place like this. When she'd first seen the girl she'd thought very little of her. Her and her friend strutted around the prison like they were on the catwalks in Paris. Pretty confident girls always rubbed Alex the wrong way. They reminded her of the horrible rich girls she went to school with.

"She not only gave the guy a beat down but she paid for the cousin's counseling too?" Alex said with amazed disbelief. "She's like a homicidal Mother Theresa."

Nichols laughed evilly. "Can you imagine beating somebody with a baseball bat? That's insane." She let her laugh die in her throat and glanced at Alex out of the corner of her eye. "Look who I'm talking to, you've probably killed people for less."

Alex tossed the last bit of laundry into the machine and shook her head. "You never stop do you?"

Nichols shook her head. "Nope. Tell me, what's the worst thing you've ever done to somebody who didn't pay?"

"They always paid."

Nichols didn't look convinced. "Nobody ever tried to stiff you?"

Alex was amazed at how many people were misinformed about her lifestyle. They watched TV and thought of shoot outs and punks in ski masks hitting people over the head. The reality wasn't actually that exciting. At least not on her level of the business. Everybody knew what the stakes were and everyone understood that lives were in the balance if you tried to screw somebody over. Everybody usually acted like a professional and things usually went smoothly.

"Nobody ever tried to stiff me. But other problems would occasionally come up. There were people to handle those sorts of things. Muscle."

Nichols nodded, seemingly in awe. "Wow. No shit. Did you have bodyguards and thugs to drive you around and watch your back?"

Alex gave her a nod, finally relenting. "Sure. Not all the time, only when things got weird. I mean if I were a guy with muscles or even a bitch with a bad ass rep I'd have been fine but I'm clearly not a fighter. Take Elvira for example. She would be fine. Once that broken back story got around she'd never have anything to worry about. That's exactly the sort of thing that gets you by. One insanely violent act to prove you aren't fucking around and nobody screws with you again."

Nichols eyebrows arched. "Like Chapman with Pennsatucky. Nobody actually thinks she's a badass or anything, but they sure as hell won't test her. I mean Pennsatucky gets new choppers but she's still drinking her meals for six months until the paper work comes in."

* * *

Piper:

Piper sprinted the last lap around the track and evened out her breath. Running was the only sense of normalcy she could find inside the walls. Being outside in the fresh air made her think of home. If she closed her eyes she could almost see a city street with parked cars, pedestrians on sidewalks giving her dirty looks. It was almost like being home again.

When she finished her lap everything went back to normal. She was back in prison. Razor wire topped fences, guard shacks, colorless walls awaited her instead of a comfy sofa and flat screen TV. She breathed heavy as she slowed her body to a stop and rested her hands on her knees. She was tired but it was the good sort of tired, the sort of tired that rebuilt your body and your mind.

Watson blew past her silently. She was on the track everyday like Piper was. Normally neither girl would run every day but inside with very little else to do they found themselves running often. Watson had even let slip that prison had given her peace, she'd learned who and what she was inside the walls. The track, not really a track of course, more of a dirt path, was her shrink's office. Watson would never be confused as nice but between Yoga and running the girl had found peace and Piper had seen her smile more and more often these days.

Piper slipped off the track and offered Guard Fischer a polite nod. Fischer seemed a million miles away today and nodded in response but Piper could see her mind was on other things. Likely real world problems, birthdays, anniversaries, pregnancy scares, domestic disputes. Issues she herself had given up when she'd been sentenced to prison.

The first person she saw when she stepped back through the doors was Doggett. Pennsatucky had been avoiding her since their fight but Piper knew from several sources that their dispute likely wasn't over. According to Big Boo she should have shoved the shank in Doggett's neck and killed her. Piper wasn't a killer but she knew Big Boo was probably right. This could come back to haunt her one day.

Doggett made the sign of the cross and muttered something that sounded like Mennonite and walked away, her loyal band of misfit converts in tow. Most of them avoided looking at her, a few stared awkwardly. Their hatred didn't seem to run as deep as Doggett's but in prison they were family. If one of them had a beef with her she knew they'd all stick together. That was how things worked.

She did her best to avoid them without looking like she was trying to avoid them and head back to her bunk. She could feel a thick layer of sweat covering her body and glanced at the clock through the caged shatterproof window of the guard booth. The showers will be clear now. She grabbed her toiletries slipped off her sneakers and socks and slipped on her flip flops and head out.

By the time she slipped into a shower stall and let the water overcome her she was tired. Her legs were throbbing, her arms weak, she felt like lying down. A bath would have been wonderful. Bubbles, scented oils, a bath pillow to rest her head. She missed baths.

She cleaned and scrubbed, finished her business and almost jumped out of her skin when she pulled back the curtain. Doggett was back. The last time Doggett cornered her in the shower she'd had a shiv with her.

Piper wanted to scream. Or run, but she was naked and pride wouldn't let her expose herself that way. And screaming wasn't an option either, she knew from experience nobody would come running to save her if she called for help. Her problems were her own. Her safety her own concern.

"We need to talk about what you did to my face. And my teeth," Doggett mumbled out almost incoherently. She was hard to understand since their fight, she was still nutty as a fruitcake, just harder to understand.

"What about them? I think I left them in the yard. You can find some of them if you're lucky." Piper wasn't sure where the bravado had come from. If she had been thinking clearly she would have tried to reason her way out of this.

Doggett only shook her head. She let her hand slip under her shirt and Piper took a deep breath. She balled her fist ready to fight, again, hoping she survived this encounter like she had the last. If she did she realized Big Boo was right. She'd likely have to rid herself of Doggett or Doggett would rid herself of Piper.

"The two of us can't peacefully coexist as enemies Chapman. I see that now. Drastic changes have to happen in order for us to get along." Her hand which had slipped under her prison shirt began to slide out and Piper braced herself for the coming onslaught.

Then suddenly Doggett flew backwards by the hair and landed in a large huff on the ground. Piper didn't know what was happening but she saw the long black hair whip past her eye line and held her breath.

Doggett was screaming on the bathroom floor. At least trying to scream, someone had grabbed her by the throat. Flaca. She was wearing a pair of what looked like men's boxer shorts and white prison issued tank top. She had too large tattoos on her shoulder blades. A large A on one and a G on the other. She didn't look as intimidating without her prison uniform but the shoulder blade tattoos spoke volumes. It made her look very urban gangster.

"What's your problem," Doggett mumbled out. "I'm trying to make peace with her."

Piper could see the fear in Doggett's eyes, there was a distinct lack of crazy this time. The last time they'd danced this dance she could see the crazy oozing from the woman's pores.

Piper hustled beside them, her complete and total nakedness suddenly not an issue. She slipped her hand under Doggett's shirt and the girl muffled out a disgusted onslaught of profanity. Apparently she thought this was some sort of sexual assault. Instead Piper felt something hard and bound. When she pulled it out and looked at it she saw that it was a Bible.

"I got it for you. As a peace offering. Maybe if you read it you'll stop being such an evil bitch all the time," Doggett explained.

Piper laughed and Flaca pulled her hand away from the girl's throat her face still emotionless. Her eyes were all fire and ice. "If you or one of your crew hurts her, I'm going to shiv every single one of you. One by one. I'm going to save you for last. You'll know its coming but you won't be able to do anything about it." Flaca finally let a smile cross her face. An evil smile that would have made the old Piper pee her pants. "You believe me?"

Doggett nodded silently and slipped out from underneath Flaca. She hustled away without saying anything else and Piper finally decided it was time to get some clothes on. She pulled herself off the floor and grabbed her towel from her stall and wrapped it securely around her body.

"Thanks," she said as she turned around to face Flaca but the girl was already gone. She'd only left the Bible behind. If Piper hadn't seen it she'd have thought she'd imagined the whole thing.


	4. Chapter 4

Piper:

There was a middle aged white haired man sitting at table four when she stepped into the room. When she was told she had a visitor she didn't actually expect to be meeting a stranger. She expected Polly. Polly would surely come and complain about the strange man who was suddenly running their soap business. Polly wouldn't like being told that some new guy she didn't know was suddenly in charge of everything. The last time they'd spoken she'd complained nearly the entire call, when Piper tried to call her earlier today she hadn't answered.

The white haired man rose to his feet when she made her way over and waited for her to sit down before he reclaimed his seat. He gave her a long careful look before finally nodding his head with acceptance.

"Ms. Chapman," he sort of asked and somewhat stated.

Piper nodded, not sure what else to say.

"I'm Adam Bell, I'm an attorney. Your attorney."

Lawyer, she didn't remember hiring a lawyer. Especially considering she didn't actually need a lawyer. Well not really. Larry's dad had agreed to sit through her hearing with the prison discipline board about the fight with Pennsatucky but he assured her that it was a mere formality, it was a clear cut case of self-defense. He also said he wouldn't be able to represent her anymore, so in hindsight she actually did need a lawyer.

"My attorney?" Saying the words out loud made her feel dumb.

"Yes. We have mutual friends and arrangements have been made for you to retain my services."

That sounded ominous enough to throw her off her game. Mutual friends. Alex. Drug Lords. Russian Mafia. Cartel bosses. She knew better than to ask any more questions.

He didn't bother trying to explain anyway. Instead he dug a few pieces of paper out of a satchel and rifled through them.

"In the future, any meetings we conduct will be in a secure room. Today we'll have to suffer through this." He looked around with displeasure but didn't say anything aloud. Lawyers, he knew better than to say anything, anybody was a potential customer. Still Piper got the feeling her prison companions probably couldn't afford him.

"Okay," was all Piper could say.

He leaned across the table and whispered in a low voice, sliding a single sheet of paper across the table to her as he did so. "This is your life line. Your secure account. Totally untraceable by the authorities and accessible anywhere around the world. Security is guaranteed by the hosting government and assurances have been made that no amount of pressure can be exerted to bend them to OUR government's will. We will not have another fiasco like we did in Switzerland."

Piper had no idea whatsoever what he was talking about. Bank accounts and Switzerland. Government pressure. It all sounded so dangerous.

"Good," she said playing along. "So it's all set up?"

Bell nodded. "It is. Just awaiting your signature for activation." He extended her a pen.

Normally Piper read anything she signed but a quick glance at the paperwork in front of her assured her it wouldn't matter in the least. It was legalese. Mumbo Jumbo as far as she was concerned. She knew that even if she read it she wouldn't have any idea what any of it meant.

She signed quickly and slid it back. Shady mission with Red over drugs, check. Secret drug dealer bank account set up, check. She was officially a criminal. Despite what this guy said she was sure she'd only end up getting herself in more trouble when it was all over with.

"Okay. What's next? You got some punks you want me to whack?"

Bell ignored the comment and went back to his papers. Piper almost sighed. He was a humorless bastard.

"This is your balance," he whispered as he slid a piece of yellow legal paper towards her. There was only one thing written on the page. 500K. Piper almost choked. A half a million dollars, was he serious?

"Really," she forced herself to ask. "Is that right?"

He finally showed some emotion. "I'm afraid they insisted the down payment and the upfront fee be split two ways. Ms. Vause wasn't happy either, it's not what she was expecting but I assured her that the increase in volume due to the new distribution method will more than compensate for her decrease in funds."

Piper wanted to laugh. Decrease in funds. She was complaining about getting a half a million dollars because it wasn't enough. Was Alex greedy and money hungry? Was she really in a position to complain about making a half a million dollars in a few weeks? From prison. She made a mental note to kick Alex in the groin later.

"This is fine," she said doing her best not to dance for joy. "We'll make it work."

Polly suddenly flashed through her mind. Polly and her new baby and her desire to live simply.

"And everything is all set up with the soap business?"

He nodded with confidence. "Absolutely. I spoke with Mrs. Harper and assured her that her time will be better spent enjoying time with her new family. I assured her that her new CEO will handle everything from here on out and that she can just relax and focus on bonding with her new baby. She still wants to be involved in the new product conversations but besides that she agrees with you that neither of you are really in a position to grow the business right now. People are in place who can devote their full attention to it, unlike the two of you. She was resistant initially but the orders we have in place eased her mind. We're likely to be up and running within the month. By the time you finish your sentence you'll be a very wealthy woman. From both of your businesses."

Piper wanted to be amazed at how quickly this had all happened. She and Alex had just spoken to Red about this barely two weeks ago and everything was already in full swing.

"Anything I need to know about any of it?"

He shook his head. "When you get out the details of everything will be given to you. Better you not have the information now for security reasons." He looked around at the inmates surrounding them when he said it as if they were mere riff raff.

"Good," she said not sure what else to say. Was she supposed to thank him, threaten him, swear vengeance if he didn't live up to his word? Instead of doing any of that she decided to play along like she'd been doing for more than two weeks. "I expect if anything comes up you'll inform Ms. Vause."

"Of course."

Piper nodded. "Okay then."

"Anything you need from me?"

Piper laughed. "A McDonalds Fish combo would be good. And a Big Mac."

Bell didn't respond. At least not in a way she expected him to. With a straight face he looked right into her eyes and asked, "Super-Sized?"

* * *

Alex and Piper:

Alex folded the last of the laundry and sighed the moment she saw Piper step into the room. She looked angry. She could spot Piper's angry face a mile away. It was distant. Expressionless. Emotionless. She pretended everything was okay but it clearly wasn't. She answered questions in one word answers and forced herself to smile. It was pathetic.

"Why didn't you tell me about the lawyer?"

Alex smiled. "You met Chuckles."

"Yeah, talking to him reminds me of a Gyno exam. It sounds like it should be fun but it totally sucks."

Alex almost choked on her laughter. "God, I forgot how dirty you are when you're upset."

"I'm not kidding, you should have warned me," Piper insisted. She didn't like being caught off guard.

"No because then you'd have acted weird and made yourself look foolish. This way you were forced to be cool. Now that you know him you'll be fine if you meet again. Trust me, I thought it through."

Piper frowned and Alex knew she'd already won the fight. TKO.

"Where's Nichols?"

Alex looked around and shrugged. "I don't know. Where's Elvira?"

"Flaca."

"Yeah, Flaca. I heard she kept you from getting shanked in the shower the other day."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Not exactly. Doggett was trying to make amends."

Alex nodded with a skeptical smile. "Sure she was. You knock out all of her rotten teeth after she tries shanking you and she decides on a whim to corner you in the showers and give you a present as a thank you."

"It was a bible," Piper said suddenly not sure that Doggett was telling the truth about making amends. It sounded stupid now that Alex said it.

"Nice. You could have taken it to heaven with you when she sent you to meet Jesus," Alex teased with phony enthusiasm.

Piper couldn't help but laugh. "She saved my ass I guess."

Alex nodded. "A very beautiful ass was saved."

The comment made her a bit uncomfortable the moment she said it. It was precisely the sort of thing she didn't want to say. Not if they weren't going to go back to how things were before. Alex was still angry at Piper. Understandably so. Piper had been a flip flopper, she'd toyed with her heart and emotions and basically made her feel like a consolation prize to Larry. She deserved her anger.

"I'm sorry," Piper seemingly forced herself to say. Apologies had never come easy for Piper. She was selfish and narcissistic and very rarely admitted her role in the chaos she created. Hearing her apologize was always a sweet sound.

"I know," Alex said then went back to her laundry.

"Are you going to forgive me?"

Alex shrugged. "One day I suppose."

"Are you having sex with Nichols?"

Alex looked at her and without blinking nodded. "Yes," she said cold as ice. Piper bit her lip and walked away.

* * *

Yoga Jones, Morello, and Big Boo:

The chapel was quiet this time of day but that didn't stop one of Doggett's Meth head disciples from poking her head inside and eyeing them up with suspicion.

"No Pagan decorations. God frowns on the wicked," the girl said before disappearing back into the hallway.

"Does that girl even know what a Pagan is? I promise you she doesn't," Big Boo said without even bothering to look up towards the door.

"They're crazy fanatics. All of them. Doggett's the worst. She's like one of those cult leaders who gets people to drink poisoned cool aid because it'll put them in the elevator to Heaven," Yoga Jones said with disgust. "She's a lunatic, a mass suicide waiting to happen." She had a special dislike for Doggett's congregation although nobody exactly knew why.

"Did you guys hear she made another play for Chapman?" Morello gave the other two women a playful smile. "Doggett cornered her in the shower but Chapman and Vause figured out how to beat her. They hired one of the Spanish girls to watch her back, the dangerous looking one. Doggett came at her with a shank but the Spanish girl got her from behind and Chapman molested her a bit as punishment."

Big Boo shook her head. "They hired the Mexicans. I would have taken that gig."

Morello shook her head. "The girl was already doing some job for them on the outside I guess and she must have done good because they gave her dibs."

"I heard they maxed out her commissary. Five Grand," Yoga Jones said. "And when that runs out they'll do it again. Three years' worth of prison cash."

"Damn, that's easy money. Stand around while Chapman takes a shower, make sure nobody gets to her. Easy money," Big Boo said disappointed.

"Doggett's already gone after her twice in the shower already. Chapman's waiting on it now. No way will she try again," Morello stated with confidence.

"If she does they'll probably kill her," Yoga Jones said. "I'm surprised they haven't already."

"Chapman's looking at short time. She doesn't want to be in here any longer than she has to. Knocking Doggett's teeth out should have been a big enough statement. She doesn't want to tack on any more time to her sentence. They got money and houses all over the world, they don't have time for this prison bullshit. Warring with some tweaker over a few days in Psych. Please," Big Boo gave a long tired stretch. "Still though, if she tries it again they'll probably just kill her. I would."

Morello nodded. "They hired the right girl for the job at least."

* * *

Lunch:

When Piper sat down at the table everybody stared at her. Alex and Nichols had positioned themselves on the opposite end of the table joined by Yoga Jones and Sister Ingalls. Morello was at her end of the table with Big Boo beside her, the center of the table was empty, a grand divide. Little Boo was at Big Boo's feet and he seemed to be the only one who hadn't noticed the odd tension in the air.

Piper had avoided Alex and Nichols since her talk with Alex yesterday when she'd casually admitted that they were having sex. She'd been hurt by the admission but it wasn't her place to say anything. This was her doing. Her fault. If she had sucked it up and ended things with Larry she wouldn't be on the outside looking in.

She picked up her sandwich to take a bite but felt a hand grab her shoulder roughly. "Chapman, pack it up and come with me."

Chapman had never liked Luschek. He reminded her of her brother some days and a boy who wasn't getting enough attention other days. She knew for a fact that he'd lied about the missing screw driver a while back and he didn't bother trying to hide his utter lack of regard for her safety. The others at least made a conscious effort to pretend to care. Luschek didn't bother. He was incompetent with a capital I.

"I'm eating, what did I do?"

Luschek chuckled. "A week in the SHU if you don't get up and come with me."

Piper sighed but snuck a bite out of her sandwich before she pulled herself away from the table. Luschek looked around the room with razor eyeballs until he spotted the Hispanics. "You. Demon Spawn, get up and come with me."

Flaca gave Luschek a look that Piper couldn't decipher but rose to her feet. She said something in Spanish to the other women at her table and they all laughed.

Luschek pointed at her tray of food and nodded. "Pack it up. Lunch time is over. I got a special job for the both of you. And I doubt you'd want to do this on a full stomach." He laughed evilly but didn't explain and the whole room watched as they dumped their trays, food still uneaten and ushered themselves out of the room behind the guard.

They followed him in silence and Piper wondered what kind of job would require her skipping lunch to accomplish. Flaca didn't say anything but instead of leading them to the sewer lines or some dirty air duct he led them to the library.

"Go, inside. Ten minutes and I take you back. I'll be watching the door. Don't make a mess and bring the trash with you," They watched as he unlocked the door with a key clipped to his belt and pushed it open.

Piper and Flaca gave one another curious glances but the moment they got a whiff of air Piper's stomach growled. McDonalds. The lawyer had managed to pull it off.

"And the next time you want something like this done Chapman come to me directly. Don't send your Cartel thugs to my house. They scared my grandma."

Chapman didn't know what to say so she did what she'd been doing for weeks. She played along. "Sorry, I wasn't sure you'd say yes."

"A thousand bucks. Of course I'd say yes." He looked around the empty hallway. "Hurry up. Ten minutes."

Luschek shut the door behind them and Piper didn't waste any time rushing over to the table and tearing into the bag. The food was only lukewarm, the soda watered down, but it didn't matter, the first bite was like heaven. She didn't eat much fast food but it was like eating in the fanciest restaurant in the world today.

Flaca hadn't moved. She was still standing by the door staring into the room. She looked confused.

"Hurry up. You heard Luschek, we only got ten minutes and if you don't eat yours I will."

"You spent a thousand dollars on McDonalds?"

Piper nodded. "Yeah, you've been in here for a few years right? When's the last time you had a Big Mac and fries?"

"Years," Flaca admitted.

"Well come on, let's go before you get us in trouble."

She finally moved and almost ran to the table and dug into an unopened bag. "Why me? Why not Vause or one of your other friends?" She asked as she bit into her Big Mac. The sauce made a mess of her pretty face and Piper almost laughed.

"Because you saved my life."

Flaca shook her head. "I didn't," she mumbled out between a mouth full of food. "She wasn't trying to hurt you."

Piper shrugged. "You didn't know that when you helped me." She took a long swallow of diet Coke and sighed. "I gave you some money too. Everybody tends to think you did something for us on the outside and that I was paying you money, so I did."

She shook her head. "You didn't have to do that."

Piper nodded. "I know, but I owed you one and nothing's free right? Tell your friends whatever you want to tell them, I won't say a word. In either case this makes us even."

"Thank you," Flaca said softly. Her demeanor had changed again. She was the sweet looking, friendly girl she'd met for a few seconds in her cube again.

"Don't mention it," Piper said. "How is The Iliad?"

Flaca shrugged. "I read it in school once. I don't need to sit through it again."

The admission caught Piper off guard. "You've already read it?"

The girl just nodded. "One came to the war all over gold, like a girl. Poor fool. It did not save him from cruel death," Flaca said without even having to recall the quote in her mind. Piper had just finished the book and she couldn't quote the thing. Flaca claimed to have read it years ago. In school, and recalled it as if she'd read it yesterday.

"Wow."

Flaca shrugged. "Don't be impressed. I don't forget things I read. It's a condition."

Piper arched her brow. "A condition?" It sounded like a photographic memory or something. That could hardly be considered a condition. Arthritis was a condition. Erectile dysfunction was a condition. A photographic memory was a gift from the gods.

"Eidetic memory."

Piper shook her head and took another bite of her fish sandwich, finishing it off. "You should be in college or something."

Flaca laughed. "Tell me about it."

There was something in the comment that Piper knew she hadn't caught. But instead of pushing it she tore into her French fries. She had time to figure it out later. Neither of them were going anyplace. She decided instead to enjoy lunch.

* * *

Alex and Piper:

Alex slipped into Piper's cube and did her best to ignore Taystee as she lay in bed pouring over a copy of what Alex was nearly positive was The Stranger, a novel she'd been given as a gift once but hadn't bothered to read. Instead of reading it she shoved it on a shelf and let it lend itself to her appearance of sophistication. The last time she'd seen the thing an FBI agent was tossing it in a pile on her floor along with every other part of her carefully constructed life.

Piper was reading too, a copy of A Game of Thrones. She'd switched genres from Homer's pseudo historical fiction to Martin's pseudo historical fantasy. Seeing her reading it made Alex miss her HBO and she resigned herself to borrow the book from Piper when she was finished.

"Where are you?" Alex asked causing Piper to nearly jump from her skin.

"What?"

"In the book, where are you?"

Piper nodded and slipped a thin folded sheet of paper in between the pages to mark her spot. "Lord Ned just realized the Queen's children aren't the King's. He's going to take over the city and send her into exile. I think he'll end up killing her though. She doesn't sound like she's going to run."

Taystee laughed not bothering to look up from her bed. "Really?" She asked with something that resembled pity more than humor or arrogance. Alex knew right away she'd read the book, or at least seen the show on HBO. "Oh girl, keep reading. Just keep reading."

Alex could see the questions dancing around in Piper's eyes and shook her head. "Don't ask questions, Taystee's right, just keep reading. You don't want any spoilers, trust me."

Piper opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it and shut the question down in her throat.

"You lost?" She finally asked.

Alex nodded. "I wanted to see if you wanted to play cards or something but I can see you're reading."  
Piper looked at her skeptically and shrugged. "We can play cards if you want."

Alex didn't wait for an invitation to sit, she made herself comfortable. "About the question you asked me the other day. Nichols."

Piper shook her head. "No. Don't say anything. I shouldn't have asked, it was none of my business."

The comment hurt Alex's feelings. Deep down in the core of her heart she felt something break. Of course it was her business. How could she say it wasn't?

"Isn't it?"

"You told me it wasn't. You sent me away."

Alex watched Taystee out of the corner of her eye but the girl hadn't moved. If she was listening she was at least doing her best to not make it obvious.

"I was hurt Piper. I was hurt and angry because you chose him. You chose him over me and it hurt my feelings. It made me think about all the times we shared. Our place in Paris, our home. It was the first time I'd ever felt like I had a place in the world. That Gondola ride we took in Venice where I told you that I would hold you in my heart forever. Old Town Square in Prague where you first told me that you loved me. I thought about all of it and I doubted it was real to you."

Piper frowned. "How can you say that? Of course it was real to me. I love you Alex, I've been running from that love since the day I left you. But I came back to you before that thing with Doggett and you were with Nichols. You were with her and you sent me away. I was afraid. I was afraid I was going to die and I needed your help and you sent me away so you could be with her."

"She's not the reason I sent you away."

"It felt like it. The two of you sitting on the bed looking like," she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. Whatever she wanted to say she abandoned it and changed the subject. "I ran away from you because being with you scares me. Look at us. We're in prison Alex. I'm in prison because of things I did when I was with you and I'm doing them again. I'd do them a thousand times because I love you. I love you and it's not going away. It's never going to go away. And I know that as long as we're together I will be in and out of places like this until they stop letting me out, but I don't care as long we spend one more night together. And it's terrifying me that I don't care."

"See this is what you do, it's what you always do. You look at me like that, and speak to me like that and I forget that you left me alone in Paris on the worst day of my life. I forget that you told your fiancée that I'm the reason his life went to hell. It wasn't just me Piper. It was us. He knew that, but do you?"

"Of course I know it was us. I was there Alex, but you can't just expect to me to forget about the things that happened between us. Any more than I can expect you to forget."

Alex let out a long frustrated breath and decided to cut her loses. "Can I read that when you're done?"

Piper looked back down at the book in her lap. "It's not mine. It's Flaca's."

Alex rolled her eyes.

"Don't do that. Don't roll your eyes. She's my friend."

"You should make other friends," Alex said coldly.

Piper scoffed. "Like you and Nichols."

"Nichols didn't beat a guy half to death with a baseball bat Piper."

Piper seemed taken aback by the comment. Alex knew the moment it left her lips that Piper didn't know why her new friend was inside. She took the opportunity to drive her message home.

"Yeah, your new BFF beat a guy with a baseball bat. Paralyzed him."

Piper shook her head. "That doesn't sound like her."

Across the cube Taystee finally broke her silence. "That sounds just like her Chapman. The guy she beat raped her cousin or her sister or somebody and she handled it. Look I know you like her and you owe her one because she saved yo ass in the shower the other day but be careful. I warned you before and I'm warning you again. Normal people don't do that sort of shit. I can see gettin mad and shooting somebody in the heat of the moment, but paralyzing them. Come on, that's fucked up."

"Really fucked up," Alex added for emphasis. "I'm just saying, make other friends. Don't limit your options."

Piper smiled. "You sound like you care."

Alex stood and started to walk out. "I never said I didn't."


	5. Chapter 5

O'Neill and Bennett:

O'Neill stared at the group of hopefuls and almost smiled. He liked fresh meat day. People thought all sorts of things when they applied for a job as a correctional officer. Most of them had done their homework by watching the most popular movies and TV shows about prison that they could find. Young slackers who saw working in a women's prison as an easy paycheck were probably the most common however. He looked out among the small group and spotted today's example. A tall thin man with shoulder length blonde hair and a look of confidence. An A-list pretty boy. Perfect.

"Okay, you've heard the rules. We're going in now. Past these doors remember EVERYONE you see in orange or beige is a criminal. Don't be fooled by how they look, how they sound, what they say. They are ALL criminals and should be treated as such. Every single one of them."

Bennett looked at O'Neill with a little more hesitation. He'd gotten the same speech from Mendez on his tour or at least a very close variation. He remembered being annoyed by the tall man with the mustache, a bit perturbed as to why the man was being so over the top. It wasn't until he'd actually gotten the job and gone through training that he understood, life inside the walls was dangerous and nothing could prepare you for it enough.

Instead of ruining O'Neill's flow he decided to play along. If any of the young hopefuls got the job they'd appreciate the tour a week or two into the job.

"I know what some of you guys are thinking. You're thinking back to those old 70's movies you used to watch on late night cable as a kid. Caged Heat. Women in Heat. That sort of thing. A bunch of women walking around half naked getting into pillow fights," a few of the men began to giggle and Bennett spoke up in a hard sharp tone. "Well forget all that bullshit. That stuff will get you fired. A female prisoner cannot grant consent. Get that through your head right now. A female prisoner cannot grant consent for sex. If you're caught having a sexual relationship with an inmate you will go to prison. And once you leave you'll have to register as a sex offender. Think about that. Think long and hard about that. There are no second chances, there is no flexibility. Sex equals prison in here."

O'Neill hadn't spoken but he was surprisingly nodding his head. "Think about all the perverts in your neighborhood that have to register with the police everywhere they go. Now imagine being one of those perverts. Imagine explaining to your mother or father, or grandparents what happened and ask yourself if it's worth it."

The group of giggling men weren't smiling anymore and O'Neill gave Bennett a respectful nod. "Alright, now watch yourselves. Heads up, eyes open."

The prison was active today and the first prisoner that walked past was one of Doggett's religious nuts. She stared at the group but didn't speak instead deciding to flash her drug ruined teeth at them. One of the women gasped and O'Neill had to fight back a smile.

"This isn't maximum security. This is minimum, filled mostly with non-violent offenders but don't get your hopes up. You likely won't be placed here. You'll likely be placed at Maximum to start off. And even if you were placed here you're not getting off that easy," Bennett said using his harshest voice. "Because that's not to say we don't have our share of violent criminals here. There are women in here who have done some pretty vicious things."

They walked past the common area and spied the crowd inside, a bunch of women were playing a board game. In a corner Vause and Chapman looked to be playing some sort of card game although O'Neill seriously doubted that's what they were actually doing. Vause and Chapman were the sneakiest women in the walls. Especially Chapman, she looked like an Angel but she was nobody's fool. She was as dangerous as the rest of the women. Maybe even more dangerous because she didn't come across like an animal.

"Hey long hair look in that corner and tell me what you see," he said placing his sacrificial lamb on the spot.

The kid stepped forward and stared off into the corner with curiosity then retreated back into the crowd. "Two women playing cards. A blonde and a brunette. The brunette is wearing glasses."

"What would you guess they're in here for those two?" The question was aimed at everyone this time.

"They look middle class. Maybe DUI or something. Embezzlement," someone said, one of the women but O'Neill wasn't sure which. He looked at Bennett with a confident smirk and nod.

"Bennett educate the population."

"Those two women look like suburban soccer moms. Pretty innocent types who look like they probably got mixed up with the wrong crowd. Spent a little too much at Macy's with the company credit card. Show of hands who thinks they look like relatively reasonable people."

Nobody raised their hands and Bennett shrugged. "They are. The blonde woman went to college, Smith College actually. The same place as Nancy Regan, Barbara Bush and Gloria Steinem. She's smart, easy on the eyes, middle class, and votes democratic. By all appearances reasonable and articulate. The brunette doesn't say much, stays out of trouble and keeps her head down. She follows instructions the first time and doesn't talk back, never makes waves. Model inmates one might say."

O'Neill stepped back in. "On the other hand, the innocent looking blonde girl got into a fight with another girl a few months back. The other woman allegedly came at her with two shivs. Not one. Two. She fought her off and beat her face to hamburger. Knocked out all of the other woman's teeth. All of them, she has to have her food mixed in a blender."

Another gasp.

"And that's not the worst part. After the fight she casually went back to the Christmas pageant like nothing happened. We didn't know it was her who did it for almost an hour," It hadn't exactly happened that way but O'Neill decided to add a little flair to the story.

"What did they do to get in here?" One of the crowd asked.

"Drugs," Bennett said easily.

The whole crowd nodded with understanding but O'Neill pounced.

"No, you don't get it. They aren't drug addicts, they're dealers."

One of the crowd, a skinny black woman with short hair chuckled. "Those two?"

Bennett focused his eyes on her. "You're probably from the inner city right. You see drug dealers on the corner wearing two hundred dollar sneakers and driving cars with big chrome rims. You don't see the types like this out there. You're used to crack houses and street violence. These two had a mansion in Paris."

"Chapman and Vause are HIGH LEVEL drug dealers. Cartel level dealers. Major drug traffickers. Don't be fooled by anyone's appearance. They have more money than you, they have more connections in the outside world than you do, even in here they can raise a shit storm of trouble if they wanted to. One phone call is probably all it would take for them to have you killed. One phone call. They each speak at least three languages that we know of. They've traveled the world and seen places and things you'll never get to see. And don't doubt for one second that the moment they get out of here they won't go right back to living a life of luxury while you're scrapping by on a government salary," O'Neill said coldly.

Bennett offered a sympathetic nod. "That may bug some people. Knowing that sort of thing. It probably scares some of you. It does me. I know that if I piss them off enough they can make a phone call and have thugs with guns sent to my house to kill me. It likely wouldn't mean anything to them either. Chapman beat a girl's face in and knocked out all her teeth then went back to sing Silent Night as if it never happened. And even worse, it probably wouldn't even be traced back to them. They'd continue on with their card game as if nothing happened. But it's my job to be in charge in here. If I say get up I have to mean it, and they have to know I mean it."

"Know who these people are. Every one of them. You can pretend you don't care, in fact I'd recommend it," O'Neill said firmly. "But in the back of your mind understand these are people who have for one reason or another gone to prison. Some of them care less about you than a piece of lint on the collar of their shirt. You can give them a hard time if you want but remember who you're dealing with. When you start this job remember one thing, if you pick the pretty blonde girl or her friend with the glasses to pick on make damn sure you know who they are and why they're here. Because looks can be deceiving. Be firm, be consistent, but above all else be smart."

"Let's take them to meet the sweet old lady who runs the kitchen," Bennett said with a smile.

"She's with the Russian Mafia," O'Neill said looking at the crowd without emotion of any kind.

* * *

Piper and Flaca:

"You're bummed out. I can tell. I told you not to read it. I told you it would only bum you out," Flaca said as she shoved her hands in her pockets.

"It's horrible. You should have told me how horrible it is. I wanted to throw it away but I couldn't stop reading it," Piper had sulked most of the day after reading the novels she'd borrowed from Flaca. She'd heard about the TV show Game of Thrones on the outside but it didn't strike her as the sort of thing she'd enjoy. Dragons and Kings and Queens and Castles but she'd been slowly drawn in then completely obsessed with the books once she'd given it a chance. It did however have a terrible habit of throwing her curve balls and breaking her heart. Flaca had even suggested she NOT read the books but Piper had insisted. She had nothing but time on her hands inside and reading was a good way to pass the hours, days and months.

"I did. I told you it was addictive but it breaks your heart all the time."

Piper noticed quietly to herself that Flaca's tough girl demeanor and voice was turned off when they spoke in private. She was smart, sweet, thoughtful and funny. She wasn't this monster everyone made her out to be. She seemed like the sort of girl Piper grew up with, if she didn't know any better she'd say the girl was privileged upper class.

"God do I hate the Lannisters," Piper mused.

Flaca laughed. "You are a Lannister. You know that right? Inside you're a Lannister. A rich girl with blonde hair and all the opportunities that has enough power to crush you if you move against her."

Piper's mouth opened wide with shock and amazement. In the novel House Lannister was the richest family in the country. Beautiful and powerful and extremely and utterly ruthless. They crushed anybody who moved against them and did whatever it took to win. Piper didn't feel like that was her at all. She wasn't ruthless.

"That's not true, take that back. I am not a Lannister," Piper said faking offense.

Flaca shook her head. "Totally true. You, Vause, you're both Lannisters."

"I'm totally not."

"Says the woman who spent a thousand dollars on McDonalds. To pay back her debt to me. And what is the Lannister motto again?" Flaca teased.

Piper finally nodded. "A Lannister always pays his debts." She shook her head with defeat. "Okay maybe I'm a bit of a Lannister."

Flaca made an inch gesture with her fingers that brought a smile to Pipers face. She was a beautiful girl when she smiled. Piper couldn't ever recall her smiling before. She wasn't sure if she hadn't paid much attention or if the girl had nothing to smile about. Either way it was sad, she was so pretty when she did smile.

"So let me guess, you're going to say you're a Stark." House Stark was full of nice good guys. Honorable and strong, eager to do the right thing.

Flaca shook her head. "I'm totally NOT, if anything I'm Loras Tyrell."

In the novel the Tyrells were the second richest family in the realm. Loras Tyrell was a knight who may or may not have been gay, and who participated in his family's games out of loyalty to kin. He didn't care about who became the King at all. Piper wondered what this meant. What was Flaca trying to say about herself? She decided since they were alone outside on the track away from other ears she would simply just ask.

"Why do you say that? Loras had a lot to hide. What do you have to hide?"

Flaca breathed heavily. She opened her mouth to speak but that cautious thing inside her pulled her back to her senses. "Nothing."

"Flaca you can tell me. If it helps I'll confess something to you too."

This caught her interest. "Yeah?"

"Sure," Piper said looking around suddenly weary of prying eyes or ears. She was being silly, nobody was around for miles. Guard Fischer was watching them but she was across the yard and clearly couldn't hear what they had to say.

"I'm not some bad ass drug dealer. I carried money from one country to another for Alex once when we were dating and I got arrested before the statute of limitations ran out. Somebody ratted me out. I'm not a drug dealer. I lived in the suburbs and loved Larry and wanted to live a normal life."

Flaca stared at her blankly before breaking her gaze with a soft smile. She shook her head. "Is that true?"

Piper nodded. "Completely. Well it was true when I got here but it's not true anymore. I'm totally a drug dealer now, but I wasn't then."

She watched the girl frown and saw something that looked like pity cross her face. "You can stop."

Piper shook her head. "I don't want to. I probably couldn't anyway though. Once the ball's rolling it doesn't stop until somebody goes to jail."

Flaca tucked her long black hair behind her ear. "I'm not a thug. I'm not from some tough New York neighborhood. I'm from upstate. My dad's a CPA and my mom is a Pediatrician. I was a student at Columbia, I was a Sorority girl. I was Pre-Med. I did break a guy's back with a baseball bat and I totally did it on purpose but it was because the guy drugged and raped my girlfriend Anna." Flaca breathed out a long heavy breath as if the information had been weighing on her soul for years, and it probably had been.

"I'm a lesbian too by the way. It broke my heart seeing my Angel that way. Anna looked at me and cried in my arms and called herself stupid. I mean this was the girl I wanted to grow old with. I loved her from the time I was sixteen years old. She was broken when I found her. She was at a diner we used to go to and dream about a life where we could be together. She's all I ever wanted, a nice house, a job, and Anna. The night she got hurt I was going to break up with her because she snuck off and went to that party. I was home thinking about ways to break her heart when all this happened to her." Flaca seemed to be holding herself together okay, Piper on the other hand wanted to cry but she knew better than to do that.

"Did she know the boy?"

Flaca nodded. "She did. He was just some boy who had asked her out once but she told him she was with somebody and he seemed to take it okay. She didn't think about it again. She saw him at the party and he gave her a drink. She doesn't remember what happened after that but somebody had taken pictures of him doing stuff to her on a cell phone and they were passing it around and laughing at her. She was blaming herself, calling herself names and I couldn't take it. I took her to the hospital and went back to the party to find the boy. He was still there hours later like nothing ever happened. Laughing and joking and drinking. I asked him about what he had done, and he looked at me as if I were crazy. Told me he did her a favor, said that she was asking for it. He was on the baseball team and always carried a baseball bat with him. I grabbed it and beat him with it."

Piper knew it was likely rage but it seemed a vicious thing to do. Still she understood. His arrogance and dismissiveness was likely a trigger.

"He was shocked I hit him. I could see in his face he wasn't sure if it was actually happening. I pounded him over and over again. He was begging me to stop, crying and pleading, saying he was sorry. I told him he was asking for it."

"Were you there alone? Nobody tried to stop you?"

Flaca shook her head. "There were a lot of people there. At least ten of his friends and a few girls but none of them did anything to help him. They didn't try to stop me or anything they just watched with this look on their faces. Like they were trapped in some horror movie, I dream about those faces every night. I don't know how many times I hit him. A bunch I guess. I was out of it. I went from there to get money for Anna. If I wasn't so angry and wound up I would have just called her parents, they'd have paid anything to help her. We come from good homes and stuff and money wasn't an issue at all. I was just wired, I stole the money instead. I didn't even know where I took it from until I got arrested. Assault with a deadly weapon, intention to inflict bodily harm and armed robbery. The boy's parents dropped the charges against me. Refused to let him testify, his brother came to my house and told my parents that they all knew his brother had a problem. They hadn't done anything about it and decided THIS was the right thing. If the boy had testified I could have been looking at attempted murder charges. Twenty years. Instead I just got seven for the armed robbery."

It was a horrible story. A completely horrible story and Piper wanted to hug the girl and let her know that she wasn't a bad person. Surely not the sort of person the prison made her out to be. A mindless violent thug.

"You should have told them this. Your friends would have understood."

Flaca looked at her with sad heavy eyes. "Did they understand you weren't a drug lord? I was a rich girl who made a mistake once. They'd have tried to take advantage of me then made me an outsider. The fact that I'm gay is enough to keep most of them away from me, it's a big thing to Hispanics, being gay."

Piper nodded. "Not just to Hispanics. You should have seen my grandma's face when I told her I was bisexual."

Flaca finally smiled again. "Are you? You seem pretty cozy with Vause to me."

It was a good question. She liked Larry but her feelings for him had been more about comfort than love. He was what she wanted her life to be like even though she knew it wasn't right. The only time she'd ever been completely happy and comfortable in a relationship was when she was with Alex.

"Alex doesn't want me," Piper admitted. "I broke her heart one too many times. I killed what we had, any chance we had of a life together I threw away."

Flaca shook her head. "You didn't. She wants you, she's just afraid. Believe me I know about killing chances. Anna comes to see me every couple of weeks. For years, loyally. I asked her to move on a hundred times, I told her to find somebody nice, somebody who'll have something to offer her. She says she wants me. Only me. She says what I did although terrible and stupid and crazy, was about my love for her. My wanting to protect her. She says when I get out we'll get a place together and she'll be a dentist. I can finish my degree at junior college or something, I'll never be a doctor like I wanted but I can find something and we can be together." She nodded with confidence. "It's all I wanted anyway. A life with her. I did something horrible but it didn't break us, it made us stronger because for the first time in my life I see the bonds that tie our love together. It would be so easy for her to move on, but she doesn't. She loves me, she keeps me close to her heart. And so does Vause, she loves you. If she didn't, she wouldn't bother with you at all. If she didn't care about you, you'd know it, believe me."

* * *

Red and Alex:

Alex stepped into Red's kitchen and watched as Murphy made a quick exit. She didn't understand Murphy at all. She didn't say much, she seemed to keep her nose out of everyone's business and quietly worked the kitchen. If anything she was a bit too quiet. People like her always made Alex uncomfortable. Watchers. Learners. They always knew everything, and if Murphy knew everything then so did Red.

"Hey, you called for me?" Alex hated being summoned but Red didn't strike her as the type of person to ignore. Her friends were the real deal, she'd heard through her contacts that they were serious guys with serious demands. This was good and bad, good because it meant more money, bad because it meant more demands.

"Yes," Red looked around. She was standing over a huge pile of onions dicing away, but she lacked the normal watery eyes that accompanied such work. It was like she was immune. Instead of crying she raised one eyebrow and looked at Alex with patience and curiosity. "Should we wait for your partner?"

Piper. "No, she's with her muscle talking about whatever it is they talk about."

Red nodded. "Tell her she over paid for her McDonalds lunch. I'd have taken care of that for half the price."

Alex didn't have any idea what she was talking about but didn't let on. It would show weakness to admit she was being left in the dark about anything. But if Piper had gotten McDonalds somehow it was news to her.

"If you think she over paid for that you should try taking her shopping."

Red smiled but Alex could tell it was more a polite smile than an amused smile.

"So what can I do for you?"

The phony smile faded almost immediately. "You should know my friends are happy with how things are going. They are pleased with the business arrangement. They've come up with a compromise for your demand that should please you. You make them a distributer of your special soaps. You ship the soap to their warehouse, they work their magic and voila. You're in the clear."

Alex hated the details but in her line of work the details kept everyone out of prison. "So the distributor is its own separate entity?"

"A contractor run independently by my friends. Under your banner of course. This would require you to allow them to use your logo on the trucks and other technical issues that can be worked out at a later date. They already have the space and the manpower. We're waiting on your approval."

"There's enough legal wiggle room in the contracts to protect Piper's silent partner from any prosecution?"

Red nodded. "Plenty, and now that she's agreed to take a step back it makes her prosecution unlikely. I encourage you to keep her away from the business entirely. If the day comes she may take an initial arrest but if she can swear under oath that she hasn't even been to the factory, doesn't know the details of how the business is run, hasn't seen any drugs, blah, blah, blah, she'll beat any charge thrown her away. At the very most she'll look at money laundering charges but according to my legal advisors it's not likely something she'd lose in court and if she did it's unlikely she'd face jail time for. Probation at most. A tax audit definitely."

Alex thought it over. "So we limit her proceeds to what's proven on paper. Maybe in the future move away from her, maybe buy her out."

Red seemed to agree. "This sounds like a good plan. Let her make some money but not enough to where she'll want to avoid selling long term. Throw a large chunk at her and she sells."

"So logistics wise, everything is done already on your end? No problem with the transportation?"

Red nodded. "We have the details worked out, the smell from the soap will serve as a natural canine blocker. My friends are very happy with this."

"Good, well I'll talk to Piper and have her sign off on it," Alex said with a nod.

"Other business," Red said still dicing her onions.

"Okay."

"Doggett came to see me, she's concerned. She wants me to arrange a sit down with you and Chapman." Red seemed genuinely amused by this although Alex didn't see the humor. It sounded like a hassle.

"Why?"

"She's afraid. Chapman's muscle, as you called it, threatened to kill her and all her girls if she attacked Chapman again. She wants that weight off her head. She makes the point that if Chapman comes at her she should have the right to defend herself without fear of retribution."

Alex wanted to roll her eyes but knew better. "Fine. Set it up."

Red smiled. "Bring the Hispanic girl."

"Oh I wouldn't imagine leaving her out of all this," Alex teased.

**In case you haven't noticed I keep referencing other books, The Illiad, which I read in school but unlike Flaca I don't remember a word of it (I Googled her quote.) And Game of Thrones which ironically I remember almost all of. Either way GOT is great, Piper even thinks so! Give it a try. As for The Illiad, it's a classic, give it a go. Or watch Game of Thrones on HBO, or rent Troy with Brad Pitt, it's not quite the same thing but you'll feel caught up. And thanks for all the love in this story. It feels good to be writing again, even if it's in circles and without direction. **

**Empty Pen.**


	6. Chapter 6

Piper and Polly:

Polly was still bitter but Piper knew she couldn't hold out any longer. She had to make the trip to get her to sign some papers and that had to happen ASAP. The soap business was thriving thanks to the drug business. Not that Polly knew that, but what she did know was in order for her to start making some money she'd have to stop holding a grudge and come down to the prison and talk business.

"You look good, being a mother agrees with you," Piper said doing her best to sound cheerful. In actuality Polly looked terrible. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She didn't look as if she'd slept in weeks.

Polly frowned and gave her a stern look, "Don't kiss my ass. I'm here."

All Piper could do was nod. "Okay."

"I talked to our lawyer," she said. "And since when do we hire a lawyer without any input from me. Or a CEO. A CEO Piper. We haven't even made any money yet and you're already setting us up for an IPO."

Piper forced herself not to laugh. "Polly we'll never get anywhere running things the way we were. I'm in prison, you have a new baby, we had to make a move."

Polly only glared.

"Tell me hiring them hasn't paid off."

She shrugged. "It has."

"We're getting sales right?"

"We are. And Claudio told me today that not only did he bag Bloomingdales, but he also bagged Macy's."

Piper forced herself not to laugh again. Bloomingdales and Macy's were run by the same Company. Bringing that up now seemed to be counterproductive.

"That's great news. Who's Claudio again?"

Polly's eyes widened. "The CEO. You hired this guy Piper, what did you just pick his name out of a phone book?"

Opps. "No, no. Claudio I'm sorry. I just call him Claude. I didn't put it together, I'm not getting much sleep in here these days." Diversion always worked like a charm with Polly. She was a notorious scatter brain.

Polly frowned again, her anger gone in a flash. "Why, what's up?"

"I have a sit down with Doggett, and I've been reading these books that have been keeping me up all night."

"What's the book?"

"Game of Thrones."

Polly rolled her eyes. "That damn show has totally taken over my Sunday nights. I'm totally obsessed. It's all Pete and I talk about."

"I just found out that in here I'm a Lannister. So clearly everyone wants to kill me."

This is usually the point where Polly would make a joke and laugh but she didn't. The attack by Doggett had really freaked her out and she'd been extra careful not to bring it up lately.

"If you're in danger Piper," she started to say slowly.

"No, I'm not in danger. If anything these people think I'm Walter White from breaking bad."

Polly did laugh. "Did they at least give you a cool nickname like Heisenberg?"

Piper finally allowed herself to laugh, she'd missed Polly's infectious amusement. She missed that most of all. If anything the time they spent apart only seemed to push them further away from one another. They had less and less to laugh about these days.

"No but you're right. I need a nickname or something."

"Or a catchphrase. If you're a Lannister Piper then be a Lannister. Make it your thing. Everybody knows not to cross Tywin Lannister." Tywin Lannister was the ruthless, unsmiling, unflinching patriarch of the Lannister family. Nobody crossed him because he'd do absolutely anything to see to the survival of his family. He was the smartest, coldest and richest man you'd ever want to meet. "When you were getting ready to go inside I watched this movie with Ed Norton and Barry Pepper. Ed Norton was getting ready to go to jail and this Russian Gangster told him that he had to make an example of someone on the very first day so people knew not to mess with him. He said that since Ed Norton was good looking it would be extra hard on him because people would be jealous of him and think he was easy prey."

Piper had actually seen that movie. The 25th hour. She was only half paying attention to it but she did remember that part, that speech.

"A catchphrase like what," she asked deciding not to comment on the movie?

Polly shrugged. "I don't know. You can always use Winter is Coming. Part truth, part threat."

Piper laughed. "I'm sure that's already taken by House Stark. But I'll think of something cool to threaten her with."

"You went to college, you're a smart girl, you can figure this out. You spent thousands of dollars on college use that education of yours," Polly said before thinking better of it. "If not I'll find a really nice dress to bury you in. Something comfortable with sensible shoes."

Piper smiled but the comment made her a tad uncomfortable. It was the second time this month somebody made a joke about her death.

* * *

Maritza and Flaca:

Flaca watched in silence as Maritza ran a brush through her long black hair. She had always loved long hair on women but these days something about the way Maritza brushed her hair made her uncomfortable. Maritza was pretty, extremely pretty. The sort of attractive that could drive you wild with a simple smile. Of course her friend had brushed her hair every day since they'd known one another and strangely it was just now beginning to bug her.

This was clearly all Chapman's fault. The woman had come into her life and broken down her walls. Flaca had always been steel inside the walls. Ice and Steel. It was the only way to survive. Nobody messed with her, nobody gave her shit. That coldness had allowed her to turn herself off to the things around her. She missed her Angel but that was a mere nuisance. She didn't dwell on it, she wasn't inside forever and one day she'd be able to hold her and make love to her again. Of course that wasn't the sort of thing she used to think about. Sex and love. Chapman had messed with her mojo. Flaca knew she should have been annoyed but instead she was a bit sad.

"I want to have sex," Maritza said.

Flaca hadn't exactly been listening to her friend talk but the comment about sex had echoed in her head and snapped her mind back to attention.

"What? With who?"

Maritza looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "You've been weird the past few weeks. You good?"

Flaca nodded. "Yeah, hell yeah. I'm cool you know me."

Maritza laid the brush on the edge of the sink and turned around to face her. She was doing the thing with her eyes that she did whenever she was going to ask her something personal. Flaca had learned her friend's moods quickly. Maritza was the person she turned to when she needed structure and reminding that there was a point to all this. She needed to be strong and she'd get out one day, out and free to be with her Angel. Life would return to the way it had been when she was a girl. Safe, quiet and boring.

Maritza always talked about getting out and going home but Flaca knew she didn't actually have much to go home to. Her mother had died while she'd been inside, her sister Theresa had upped and moved to California with her new husband. Her boyfriend Juvy had gotten himself killed in prison. Maritza had been heartbroken for the better part of a month over his death. Since then she'd given to calling him stupid and blaming him for everything that had gone wrong in her life. Flaca knew it was the grief talking because she occasionally caught her friend staring at a picture of the two of them together at some carnival. She didn't talk about it and Flaca didn't ask. They were home girls, some things were better left unsaid.

Maritza nodded but her face was etched with concern. "I thought I did but lately it's like you're going off to do your own thing all the time."

Flaca assumed this would be a problem. She'd been spending a lot of time talking with Chapman lately and the girls had clearly noticed. She knew it was a bad idea but she couldn't help herself. She had more in common with the pretty blonde than she did with anyone inside. They liked the same things and could talk for hours about books, philosophy, and life in general. Giving it up would be painful.

"I'm sorry. I know I've been fucking up."

Maritza's scowl turned to a smile. "You always do that. Get all serious. We're talking here. Just the two of us. What's up with you and Blondie?

Flaca shrugged. "Nothing. We talk. I picked up some commissary money."

"I heard about that. I heard you went at Doggett pretty hard."

Flaca shrugged but Maritza didn't let up. "You know you gotta back that shit up now right? If she go at Chapman again you gotta kill somebody or nobody gone think you real. All yo hard work will be for nothing."

"What's that mean?"

Maritza smiled. "You think I don't know? I'm your home girl. Your best friend Flaca. You think I don't know you ain't from the hood. Of course I know, but you good people. You're my familia, your lies are my lies. My pain is your pain. Some things we just don't have to say. We got each other's back. Always, and as your familia I have to tell you the girls are starting to talk."

Flaca's head was spinning. How could Maritza know anything? She'd been so careful.

"I don't," she started to say before her friend closed the few remaining feet between them and rested both her hands on her shoulders.

"Don't lie to me. I get it, you gotta protect yourself. This isn't your scene. Tell you the truth I'm not a fighter either, but the more people are scared of you the safer we both are. So keep doing your thing. But this thing with Doggett was a mistake." She pulled away and slid back to the sink and began to shake her head. "I can't believe you put yourself on the line for her like that. I mean what's up with that?"

"Who Chapman?"

Maritza nodded. "Yeah, what's the deal? Are you fuckin her? Is that it? I mean do what you gotta do I'm not gone cock block you or nothing but you got a good thing going with Anna. Don't fuck that up. When you get out of here you have a chance at having a real life Flaca. Don't fuck that up over some blonde pussy that'll be gone before both of us know it."

"Mari, Anna and I are," she said slowly but Maritza cut her off once again.

"A couple. She's your girl, I know it. I see it in your eyes when you talk to her, they light up like Christmas morning. Besides, I love my people too but I don't have my prima's initials tattooed on my back. I told Diaz it was your ex, Angelo. I told her he died so you don't like talking about it and she made the girls swear not to bring it up."

"Mari, I'm sorry I lied but you know how they are with this. My ma would kill me if she knew. Even with what I did to get in here she didn't turn her back on me but if I told her about me and Anna she'd disown me."

Maritza offered a sad frown. "I know. The old heads aren't down with it. It won't be an issue though. They don't know. Just don't get caught slipping. And stay away from Chapman as much as possible. She's bringing trouble your way. This thing with Doggett is bad. You put your rep on the line and that's serious shit in here."

"It just slipped out. I didn't plan on it. She's my friend. We aren't sleeping together or anything."

Maritza laughed. "And stop talking like that. Get back in character. Look, this sit down is some serious shit, so I'm coming with you. We're in it together right. Just let me do the talking. I can back us off it, but you have to lay low. Just don't say anything. Doggett's already afraid of you, if you scare her any more she's likely to come after you. And if she does I'm gonna put that bitch down. Then I'll never get out this bitch. So just stand tall and don't talk. I'll fix it."

"Thanks Mari."

Maritza turned her attention back to herself in the mirror. She picked up her brush and began to brush her hair. "We're family Flaca, you don't have to thank me. Just don't go solo anymore. We work better together. And I miss you. It's time for you to come home."

* * *

Alex and Piper:

Alex didn't seem to be taking this serious. She'd spent half the morning with Nichols doing god knows what. They often disappeared in the middle of the day and Piper forced herself not to think about what they were doing. Surely they were off having sex. The thought made her want to punch Nichols in the face. That would be a mistake she was sure of it. Nichols looked tough, she had a scrappy wolverine thing going on with the wild hair and the dismissive demeanor. Punching her would likely only result in getting her ass kicked. And not only that Alex would likely sit by HER side and nurse HER wounds.

"Are you kidding me, it's Pennsatucky, not Henry Kissinger. The fact that she called this summit like we're in the mafia is completely ridiculous. You're taking it too seriously."

That was exactly the reason they were in this mess in the first place. "You're not taking it seriously enough. Being a smart ass is how this started in the first place. I'm going to handle it my way. I'm going to fix it for good this time but I need you to be in my corner on this. I need you to let me do all the talking."

Alex smiled. "Fine. I won't say a word."

"Good. Don't say anything and let me do the talking."

"If I say anything I'll probably just end up making it worse so I'll play ball. You do the talking," Alex said relenting.

* * *

Caputo:

Caputo knew smiling would be unprofessional but the second he stepped into the chapel and saw the prisoners sitting anxiously in their seats waiting for what they'd affectionately started calling 'The sit down', he knew today was a good day. The best part of his job had to be the Problem and Resolution conference. As a younger man Caputo had dreams of becoming a lawyer and one day a judge. Bad grades and immaturity had robbed him of that dream but fate had given him something in return. A small smidge of satisfaction in the form of the prison's Problem and Resolution conference.

Chapman had showed up on time although Caputo had expected that. She was a model prisoner in some ways. If you told her to be somewhere at three o'clock, she showed up at two fifty five. She was smart. She went to college and had spent some time in the 'real world' not just the streets like most of the prisoners, so she wasn't in the habit of questioning every rule she didn't agree with or understand. She followed instructions, she was attractive and even in prison she managed to always smell like strawberries.

Chapman gave him a pleasant smile when she saw him and he extended his hand towards one of the empty seats at the fold out table sitting in a place of prominence on the stage. She quietly took her seat and waited for Doggett to show up.

Doggett showed up five minutes after three o'clock. She was everything Chapman wasn't. Angry, uneducated, rough around the edges and a constant questioner of authority. Caputo knew she was serious about her religion but he assumed she was all Old Testament. Fire and Brimstone. If you crossed her she'd try to kill you. She'd tried to kill Chapman but had gotten all her teeth knocked out for the effort. When he'd first heard the story he'd chuckled. Chapman didn't look like a fighter but as a prison guard he'd learned really quickly that you didn't judge books by their covers.

Doggett pulled her chair out and threw herself into her seat. Her band of merry misfits took the front row seats. An honor reserved for the 'crew' of the disagreeing parties. Alex Vause had taken a seat in the front row also but at the other end of the isle, away from Doggett's friends. Sitting next to Vause were the two young Mexican girls. Ramos and Gonzales.

Caputo wondered what that was about. The prison had long since separated itself by race. To see Chapman and Vause had somehow garnered the support of the Hispanics was an interesting twist. The Hispanics were an extremely tight knit group. The closest of all the groups he'd guess, they spent most of their time together and kept any outsiders at a distance. They didn't have the influence as Red and her crew, the fanaticism and violence of Doggett and her crew, the deep pockets of Vause and Chapman, but they had loyalty. Unquestioned loyalty to one another. Inside the walls they'd do anything for each other. One could argue that was more valuable than the rest, especially in lockup.

Caputo cleared his throat. "Okay. Welcome to Problem and Resolution. You all know how this works. For the purposes of this conference nothing you say here will go into your file, no information of any kind will be used against you at a later date. However if you fail to come to a resolution and another violent incident occurs one or both of you will be sent to maximum security." The last conference held had been a little over six months ago. Big Boo and Tricia had sat down and come to a decision regarding a woman they were disagreeing over. Mercy, a sociopath with a capital S who loved pitting people against one another for her affections. They'd agreed to stay out of each other's way and moved on, of course only after they both threatened to kill the other half a dozen times. Caputo watched with professional restrained glee and called the conference a success afterwards. Truth be told he didn't actually have the authority to send anyone down the hill for failing to come to a resolution but the prisoners didn't know that.

"Any questions?"

Chapman shook her head no, her face stone and emotionless. Doggett wrinkled her nose at him and considered something but finally nodded an acceptance of the rules.

"Okay, Doggett you called this conference, air your grievances."

Doggett sat up excitedly in her chair leaning forward to emphasize her emotion. She looked at Chapman with anger and then glanced quickly into the crowd. Whatever she saw out there stemmed her anger because instead of screaming like Caputo knew she wanted to do she merely raised her voice.

"Chapman is going to sick Gonzales on me and my girls. She threatened to shank all of us. One by one and save me for last so I'll know its coming and won't be able to do anything about it," Doggett finally said looking at Caputo for some sort of help. That was one hell of a threat he knew but he also knew that within the confines of the conference he couldn't use it to punish Flaca Gonzales.

A hand shot up in the audience. Maritza Ramos was Gonzales best friend and Caputo rarely saw the two ladies apart from one another. They were both sitting with Vause and the union suddenly made sense. Vause and Chapman had hired the Hispanics for protection. Smart.

"The chair recognizes Maritza Ramos," Caputo said.

Ramos stood up with her hands on her hips. "You can't just go around threatening the boss ladies. We took a job, and now if something happens to Chapman or Vause it falls on our heads. This is bigger than Litchfield. If you hurt Chapman we have to do something or else we'll end up getting killed ourselves. This is the real world Doggett."

A roar of mumbling erupted in the crowd and Caputo realized that everyone understood where Ramos was coming from. If the rumors about Chapman and Vause were true if they hired protection and managed to get themselves killed something bad would happen to that protection. Caputo had even saw Red offer a small nod of acknowledgment to the comment.

"I'm not trying to kill anybody," Doggett said suddenly defensive. "I want to put this behind me."

Ramos nodded. "If you say she has nothing to worry about from you or your girls then we'll ease back up on our position and say you have nothing to worry about from us."

Doggett rolled her eyes but Caputo could see it was just for show. She looked relieved. "Fine. She's safe. We won't touch her."

"Good then, we rescind our threat against you. Any situation will be dealt with from scratch from this moment on," Ramos said then quickly reclaimed her seat. Ramos looked relieved herself although sitting next to her Gonzales didn't look to feel any particular way about it. He assumed she'd have been just as comfortable with killing Doggett and all her friends as she was with letting it go.

"Okay. All threats neutralized. Everybody is safe from this moment on. Anything else Doggett?" Caputo was amazed at how smooth most of these things went. Most of the time if it came to this it was because both parties wanted to put the threat of danger behind them and move forward. Sure they wanted to save face in the process but they usually accepted terms quickly and amicably and hid behind the threat of Maximum security if questioned about it by their friends. It was such a good solution to most problems that Figueroa had even forced him to put two feuding prisoners in conference as a way to mitigate the violence once or twice.

Doggett of course wasn't done complaining. "She disrespected me."

Caputo looked over at Chapman who had sat silently up until this moment. Something in her eyes flashed to life and she nodded.

"Anything to say to that Chapman? Did you disrespect her?"

Chapman looked at him, then across the table to Doggett and nodded again.

"Sure. Sure I did."

"Well," Doggett said waiting for an apology.

Caputo expected Chapman to apologize quickly and slink away. It would have been the smart thing to do, the easy thing to do. But strangely enough it's not what Chapman did.

"You know, when Alex and I first met we had to travel to Australia. New South Wales. We spent some time in a resort down there off the Tasman Sea, near Sydney. It was supposed to be a luxury resort but it was small, secluded, and pretty quiet. Still, it was the most beautiful place I've ever been, before or since, and I've been all around the world.

"Anyway at the resort they had these nature made wade pools you could sit in. So I put on my swimsuit and while Alex was off doing whatever it is Alex does when we go places like this, for reasons like this, I decided to relax. I get to the pool and the first thing I see is this beautiful little baby octopus. It had tried it's best to blend into the rocks in the pool but it had these bright blue rings that couldn't help but draw attention. It was beautiful, so beautiful that I wanted to pick it up and keep it as a pet. But I'm a smart girl, I knew better than to fuck with a creature in its natural habitat. Of course it wasn't until I talked to Alex later that night that I realized that messing with that Blue Ringed Octopus would have been fatal.

"You see Doggett, some things are small, and pretty, and they mind their own business and stay out of everybody's way. They try their hardest to blend into the environment so would be predators will leave them alone. They don't get greedy, they don't interfere with anybody, they don't step on toes, but still some bigger asshole wants to come and fuck with it while it's just trying to relax in its wade pool and mind its own business. So the Blue Ringed Octopus has to sting its ass. See what most people don't know is that just because it's pretty that doesn't mean it still doesn't have venom. In fact its venom is 10,000 times more deadly than cyanide. See the Blue Ringed Octopus is pretty docile as long as you leave it alone but when it's threatened it'll put even the biggest of predators on its ass. It doesn't strike often but when it does it's almost always fatal. Most creatures know to steer clear of it and leave it alone but every once in a while it has to kill something so the other fish don't think it's somebody's bitch." Chapman cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry for disrespecting you. I say that in front of inmates and guards and promise you it won't happen again. But don't ever think of me as prey. I'm a Blue Ringed Octopus, and this prison is my wade pool. Don't fuck with me in my wade pool."

Caputo listened to the story wide eyed and eager. It was such as strange metaphor but he couldn't help but notice it had achieved its desired result. Doggett was at a loss for words and the place had gone completely silent. To her credit Chapman didn't look as if she'd moved an inch emotionally. She could have easily been talking about doing her taxes or her grandma's recipe for chicken soup. It wasn't until this moment that he decided to believe the rumors about her and Vause. She looked innocent but like she said she was a dangerous predator in disguise, a Blue Ringed Octopus.

* * *

Alex and Piper:

Piper looped her arm into Alex's and pulled her into a corner of the chapel and leaned into her ever so gently. Alex had never been able to resist that. She's said once that the soft gentle wisp of breath against her neck was an aphrodisiac. Piper was done playing second fiddle to Nichols. If she wanted Alex back she'd have to fight dirty.

"So how did I do?"

Alex chuckled uncomfortably. "Are you kidding, you even scared the hell out of me."

Piper let go of Alex's arm but didn't pull it away, instead she wrapped it around her ex-girlfriends waist and rested her chin on her shoulder.

"We're Lannisters. Polly told me that if that's how people see us then that's how we need to behave. Everybody hates the Lannisters but if you ask most people who they'd rather join most of them would answer they'd be Lannisters."

Alex shook her head playfully. "You've been reading too much Game of Thrones you know that?"

"I know, but I'm right," Piper stated with confidence.

"Sure you are. The Lannisters are rich, who doesn't want to be rich?" Alex had made every adult decision in her life because of money it seemed. She'd grown up poor with a mom who worked several jobs to support them only to die young of a brain aneurysm. She'd vowed never to work that hard for so little pay off. Piper wasn't sure but she could only guess most of the women here had made similar promises to themselves.

"We have to put ourselves above this petty stuff. It'll piss people off but as long as we form strong partnerships we'll be fine. Red's in our corner, so are the Hispanics. Who else should we be worried about?"

"Maybe you're right," Alex said relenting. The words brought a smile to Piper's face but the happiness was short lived.

"Hey Octopussy," Nichols said with her usual mix of condescension and amusement. "Nice story. Fucking thing gave me chills. I don't see those girls giving you any more shit. Consider your Pennsatucky problems solved."

Piper forced a smile to her face. Now all she had to worry about was her Nichols problem. "Good. I was hoping she'd get the message but something tells me she's not too sharp when it comes to metaphors."

Alex laughed. "Does she even know what a metaphor is?"

Piper frowned. "I promised I wouldn't disrespect her remember."

Alex shrugged. "YOU promised. I didn't. Besides, I don't see her making a thing out of it now. You gave her an out and she took it."

Nichols nodded. "Most people do," she said before turning her attention to Alex. "Want to play Scrabble."

Alex shot Piper a glance that said nothing but still so much before nodding. "Sure, let's go."

Piper watched them walk away and wondered what Tywin Lannister would do in this situation.


	7. Chapter 7

Nichols:

Nichols watched with curiosity while Vause tapped her fingers lightly against the lunch table. She couldn't help but be intrigued by the woman's sudden lack of an appetite. She'd skipped breakfast this morning and for some reason was also skipping lunch. Of course that didn't stop her from going through the motions of getting a tray and picking through her bologna sandwich and chicken soup.

Alex had been weird today but Nichols knew enough than ask questions. Alex didn't answer to anyone. Well almost anyone. If Chapman were to ask what was wrong she'd surely get an answer. Something short most likely, something witty to announce to anyone within earshot that she was still angry with the blonde, but still, she'd answer. If Nichols asked she'd get something snarky, a sassy way to say that she should be minding her own business.

"Vause, on your feet, come with me." Someone said firmly. Bennett. Bennett wasn't what Nichols would consider a ball buster but he was using his business voice to convey to everyone that he meant it. Vause stood right up and began to gather her things without complaining.

"Ramos you too," Bennett continued. Maritza DID complain. She grumbled and mumbled and asked questions that were left unanswered by Bennett. Instead of feeling the need to answer he used his outside voice. "Just pack it up before you end up in the SHU for insubordination."

Down the table somebody had thought this funny because they laughed. Nichols snuck a peek and saw that it was Morello who'd laughed. A knot built up in her stomach when she realized that Lorna wasn't paying any attention to Bennett and the young Hispanic girl. She was busy playing with Chapman instead. Or better yet, Chapman was playing with her.

Morello's arm was outstretched on the table and Chapman was running her finger up and down it, a look of mischief on her face.

"Okay, so say Sydney's right here," Chapman said running her index finger lightly along Morello's inner elbow. "The Tasman Sea would be here," she said brushing along the woman's wrist. Morello giggled like a school girl. "So the resort would be here," Chapman finally said running her thumb down Lorna's inner forearm.

Morello was gazing into Chapman's eyes like a love sick puppy. Nichols felt something inside her stir to the surface. What was Chapman doing now? Was she trying to bag Morello? That wasn't cool, Morello was a sweet girl. Pretty and delicate. Chapman would only ruin her if she sunk her claws into her.

"Hey Lorna how's Christopher?" Nichols wasn't sure where the question had come from. One moment she was fighting off the urge to vomit and the next she was talking about Christopher and she NEVER talked about Christopher.

Nichols watched Morello's girlish smile fade. Her face twisted into something weary and suddenly without explanation she snatched her arm away from Chapman and practically jumped to her feet and stormed away. She wanted to gloat with satisfaction for having broken up the love fest but one look at Chapman killed the smile threatening to form on her lips. Chapman had gone back to eating and didn't seem to be at all concerned. If Nichols wasn't crazy she'd swear she saw her fighting back a smile of her own.

* * *

Diaz and Mendoza:

Diaz looked over the wall of her cube and spied Flaca asleep in her bunk. Maritza her ever present partner in crime was also napping in the bunk across from her and for the first time in months things seemed back to normal. She wasn't sure what the deal was with Flaca and Maritza these days but the girls had been spending a lot of time with Chapman and Vause. Whatever was going on it was clear the girls had taken it upon themselves to offer protection to Litchfield's infamous drug lords. It was ambitious but Diaz couldn't help but think it was also a bit selfish. They hadn't even offered to spread the wealth.

"What they up to," Mendoza asked quietly? She was skimming a magazine, likely looking at the pictures because Diaz knew for a fact she didn't read all that well. And by all that well, she meant at all.

"Sleeping," Diaz said softly.

"Did you hear about lunch?"

Diaz hadn't heard about lunch. She knew earlier today Bennett had dragged Maritza out of the cafeteria before she had a chance to sit down and eat. Maritza had complained the whole time but she'd gone without putting on too much of a show.

"What about it?"

Mendoza tossed her magazine carelessly to the bed. "I heard from one of our girls in the kitchen that Vause surprised her with lunch."

Diaz shrugged. It was lunch time, that wasn't a big deal.

"Okay."

Mendoza leaned across the tiny space with wide eyes. "From the outside. She had food snuck in so they could have like a lunch or something. I heard it was steak, mashed potatoes and German chocolate cake for dessert."

Diaz's mouth began to water at the mention of steak. But rumors were a bitch in prison. She didn't quite believe it.

"No way," she said not bothering to hide her disbelief. Mendoza had a tendency to exaggerate at times.

Mendoza only nodded. "It's true. Remember a few weeks back when Luschek dragged Chapman and Flaca out during lunch?"

Diaz did remember that. She'd found it strange at the time but hadn't given it much thought since. It was also during lunch and also before Flaca had a chance to sit down and eat. When she'd returned she hadn't complained about being hungry once. Maritza had been unusually quiet today when she'd returned too as a matter of fact.

"I remember," Diaz uttered cautiously.

"Chapman had McDonalds snuck in for them. She bribed Luschek to handle it. Vause went through Red though. She had Red sneak the steaks and shit in and she made it up special for them. She had some extra steaks sent in but Red gave them to some of her girls. Murphy and that mute bitch."

"Why?" Diaz had heard all sorts of stuff inside. People did crazy things inside the walls. Sneaking in special lunches wasn't a big deal but it was expensive. You had to bribe guards, or delivery men and nobody did anything for cheap. It was always hundreds of dollars in expenses.

"Our girls in the kitchen said it's like a gift. As long as they work for Chapman and Vause they want them to feel like the risk is worth it. When they hire you they celebrate by having food sent in. Real food. I guess it's like a perk or something," Mendoza was choosing her words carefully but Diaz knew she was feeling her out to see if they should be offended or not.

"That's fine and shit but how come they didn't tell us?"

Mendoza shrugged. "I don't know, I wanted to ask them but I wanted to talk to you first."

Diaz wasn't sure how to play it. First off she didn't frown on anyone trying to make ends meet. Maritza didn't have anybody on the outside and her commissary account had been empty since she'd gotten here. Flaca always seemed to have cash in her account but she rarely bought anything besides the essentials. This lunch thing was just the sort of thing that rubbed everybody the wrong way so it made sense they'd keep it to themselves. Still, eating steak while everyone else was eating cold sandwiches wasn't cool.

"We'll ask them what's up when they wake up," Diaz said finally relenting. Mendoza was waiting to see how she'd handle it but she wasn't going to let it go. Her bringing it up was her way of saying she wanted something done. Diaz wasn't sure if this was actually the sort of thing there should be trouble over but better to get things out in the open than to let it fester. Jealousy would eat away at the other girls.

"We should wake them up now and ask what's up," Mendoza started to say but was cut off by the weird new lady guard Fischer.

"Your commissary's in ladies." The guard said with inappropriate enthusiasm. Diaz wasn't sure if the guard was crazy or just one of those happy people who always got up on the right side of the bed. Even after all this time working inside the prison the woman was still all smiles and hellos.

Mendoza looked over at Diaz and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have any commissary coming."

"Me neither," Diaz hadn't bought anything in weeks. She usually stocked up on essentials when money came in so she wouldn't piss it all away on potato chips and Pepsi and forget to buy toothpaste and tampons.

"You guys, Daya and Ruiz all have commissary in. Gonzales and Ramos took care of it. Lots of necessities but a few goodies too. Merry Christmas ladies," Fischer said before disappearing again out of sight.

Diaz looked across the cube at Mendoza with an arched eyebrow. "Maybe we let them do their thing. They know where home is, they haven't forgotten about us. We could all use the extra cash floating around and Ruiz could use something good in her life. Even if it's bullshit commissary."

All Mendoza could do was agree. "You're right. They're looking out for us. We should let them go do their thing. I still think not telling us about the food is fucked up."

Diaz nodded. "A little." Actually it wasn't. Hoarding cash and not spreading it around was selfish. Not rubbing everybody's nose in the fact that you'd had steak for lunch while they ate sandwich and soup wasn't fucked up. It was considerate. And now that the girls had used their newfound wealth to take care of their crew Diaz knew nobody would complain. She knew that had to be Maritza's idea. The girl had always been sharp when it came to dealing with people and sniffing out trouble. Thank God for small favors. They didn't need beef right now, with Ruiz still sad over letting go of her little one and Daya looking at the same thing they needed unity, not bullshit. She'd have to remember to give Maritza a kiss on the cheek later.

* * *

Piper and Alex:

Piper stepped into Alex's cube and stared at her with pretty blue eyes and a frown. Alex could only guess what this meant. Piper had that sad yet pouty thing perfected. The moment Piper's lips pursed Alex knew she was on the losing end of a rout.

"What?" She tried to force the word out hard and cold but she could feel it soften in her throat against her will.

Piper shrugged. "What do you mean what? I heard about your lunch with Maritza."  
Alex had only followed Piper's lead on that one. If one of them did something it was a whim, if they both did it, it was a trademark.

"I had lunch brought in for Maritza, you took care of Flaca so I did the other one. I figured it would be our thing when we employ someone's services."

Piper didn't look convinced. "Everybody's talking about it. Steak and German chocolate cake? I only did McDonalds." She shook her head playfully. "God you're such a snob, you drew tons of attention."

"I was only building our brand. The Blue Octopus. You know that's a thing now. The moment you said it the whole thing was bound to spread like wildfire." Somehow when Alex had called and spoken to 'Not really Rosalie' the woman had already heard about the name. If she heard about it that was a subtle way of letting her know the guys in the cartel knew about it too. Alex often pondered how the men got their information. A few dollars slipped to the right person usually gave you access to anything. Still she found herself wondering what warranted repeating. Did they hear that she was sleeping with Nichols? Did they even care? The questions often kept her up at night because one day they were bound to hear something that they didn't like.

"Really?" Piper was unusually naive for somebody so self-absorbed. The woman was a complete narcissist and despite her savant like knack for business and branding she sometimes found herself saying the most absurd things. You didn't threaten somebody the way she'd threatened Doggett, eloquently and effortlessly with flair and drama fit for Broadway, and expect the story not to spread. It was all anyone talked about for days, prisoners and guards.

"Yeah, people know about that Piper. Important people."

This seemed to confuse her. "What? How?"

All Alex could do was shrug. She didn't know. "I have no idea. They always know. There's lots of money involved Piper. They always know what we're doing. Remember that, they're always watching us. They have spies. Even in here. My friend Rosalie even knew."

"Rosalie. You mean your supermodel sex friend," Piper said the words with a smile but it was anything but a joke. Alex could see the jealousy in her eyes.

"My 'help me pass the time' friend you mean. Yeah, she knows, and if she knows they know."

"What's her story again? You guys used to date, then what?" Piper asked. She was already way off track. Alex had forgotten this side of her personality. The jealous and insecure side.

"We didn't date Piper. I met her for the first time in here. She's paid to visit me, and answer my calls, and write me letters, otherwise nobody else would. If not for her I'd be all alone in here. Now stop it already and be serious. This Octopus gimmick is our thing now. It's how we'll be known on the street. The cartel's likely already spreading the story."

Piper's face scrunched. "Why?"

"Because the only thing the Cartel likes more than money is urban legends. The head of the Cartel has a nickname, El Garuda. He has statues of the things all over the place."

"What's a Garuda," Piper asked?

Alex rolled her eyes. "Look it up. That's not the point anyway. The point is they like that sort of thing, nicknames. They believe it gives you some kind of street cred or something. It's totally insane but they all give themselves these little nicknames. And your Blue Octopus story fits right in."

"It's a Blue Ringed Octopus and the story isn't true, you know that. I made it up, we've never even been to Australia."

Alex shrugged. "And the boss isn't really half bird-half man, who cares. It's true if you say it's true. This business is results and reputation Piper. If people think you're a badass then you are. All you have to do is maintain that reputation. It's a job, like an acting job. I was considered a shrewd, cold, manipulative bitch, so that's what I became. If I start behaving any differently I'll probably get my head blown off."

"So what am I? What do people think I am?"

Alex leaned back on her bed and rested comfortably against the wall. "A smart, sneaky, self-serving, opportunist. But don't feel bad, in this world that's a good thing. You're a criminal now Piper. All those things you pretend not to be so people will like you, you don't have to hide now. Just be Piper. Unapologetic Piper and you'll be fine."

Alex could see the hint of offense in Piper's face. She was so used to thinking of herself as the hero of the story that she'd somehow forgotten that she actually wasn't. We were all heroes in our own story but the villain in somebody else's. Her mother had told her that once when she was in junior high and the rich girls used to pick on her. They don't realize they're bitches, she'd say. To them you're the bitch.

"I'm not a self-serving opportunist," she said defensively.

"So that stunt with Morello wasn't specifically designed to piss of Nichols."

Piper shrugged. "What stunt?"

"That flirty, this is the sea, bullshit you pulled during lunch. I was there for most of it."

"I was proving a point," she finally said.

"What, that you can be mean and spiteful? Well, mission accomplished. You really showed her."

Piper shrugged and like a bag of bricks dropped her self-defense plea. "She started it."

Piper was delusional. Nichols hadn't done anything to her at all. She was just angry, and jealous. "How Piper? What did she do, dare to breathe your air?"

Piper closed the distance between the two of them and leaned into Alex resting both hands on the bed to brace herself and blew soft breath on her neck. Something inside Alex's body went into gear and she found herself reacting without prodding. Piper could always get her motor running. Alex couldn't help herself around her.

"She took what I love from me, so I'm going to take what she loves from her."

Alex's heart jumped to her throat. "What you love?"

Piper nodded. "What I love. And want. And will do anything to get back. I don't want Morello, I want you. And Nichols knows that, and she's in my way. So if I have to crush her spirit to beat her into submission so be it."

"Piper Nichols and I aren't," Alex started to say but Piper kissed her softly on the neck and pulled away.

"Until you forgive me, I'm going to keep fighting."

Alex forced a frown to her face. She had to force it because she couldn't possibly be more turned on right now. "Dirty fighting."

Piper smiled. "I'm not a good guy anymore remember, I can fight dirty if I want. And I can do all sorts of other dirty things for you if you were so inclined."

Alex took a deep breath and sighed. "Piper," she began to plead.

Piper only smiled. "I'm here with you, so you'll never be alone. But I understand the thing with Rosalie. I just wish you weren't so angry with me. I'm ready to make it up to you."

"Do you think you can just smile at me and expect things to go back to normal? You've hurt me Piper. Many times. You show up and make me love you then you kick me in the dirt and run from me. You put other people, other things, before me. I can't live with that."

"You won't have to. As soon as I get rid of Nichols I'm going to make you love me again. But this time I won't run. This time I'm going to plant roots. You're mine Alex Vause. And I'm yours. We both know it. Together we're Voltron."

Alex couldn't help but chuckle. When they'd first started dating Alex was secretly obsessed with the 80's cartoon of five space defenders who joined together to form a super powerful robot named Voltron. It played constantly on TV in Malaysia and Alex had watched every episode at least a dozen times. She was surprised Piper remembered that.

"Maybe, but you have to leave Nichols alone. She hasn't done anything."

Piper shook her head no. "Nope. Not until she stops seeing you. If she thought today was bad, wait until tomorrow."

"Piper," Alex began to plead but it was too late, she was already gone. Alex stopped fighting back the smile she'd been holding in. She'd always enjoyed when Piper was being naughty. Seeing her unabashedly open and plotting evil made her smile. Despite it all, this was the Piper she'd loved. The Piper who whined and moaned and spent her money and didn't bother trying to impress anyone. The selfish petty ego centric girl who put herself above everyone but pretended not to notice. This was HER Piper, the real Piper Chapman, warts and all.

* * *

Nichols:

Nichols watched Chapman lean over Morello's left shoulder and slide a red checker across the board. She'd done it a total of seventeen times now, that lean. That sexy, inappropriate, feel my tits on your shoulder lean. Nichols hated the lean.

Chapman didn't let up. "See this is your final line of defense. You have to leave these in place until the very last possible moment but when you move them you have to attack. Always attack."

Nichols wanted to gag. What did Chapman know about checkers anyway? She'd watched her play Poussey and she'd gotten her ass kicked. Now all of a sudden she was Bobby Fisher. She couldn't help but wonder if she knew how silly she looked? What a tramp.

"What you thinking about?"

The question whipped around her head like a boomerang. She hadn't heard Vause sneak up on her but the woman wasn't at all trying to hide. Nichols had just been so wrapped up in Chapman and Morello that she hadn't noticed her. She was off her game.

"Nothing, what's up?"

Vause took the seat across from her and stared. She looked like she wanted to say something reassuring but that wasn't exactly her style. Vause wasn't soft and fluffy. She was hard and distant, almost cold.

"We need to talk about Piper," Vause said. They both looked across the room as Piper brushed a loose strand of hair away from Morello's face.

"What about her," Nichols asked trying, and failing, to disguise her feelings.

"She's doing this to bug you."

Nichols had guessed that much but she didn't know why.

"I figured that but why? What did I ever to do her?"

"Me," Vause said softly. "She's doing this because of us."

Nichols scoffed. "What US, we play Scrabble together. I mean we fooled around once, months ago but we both decided we wouldn't any more. She's pissed about that?"

Vause shrugged. "I know, but she's possessive. She does this sometimes. Stakes her claim on me. I can back her off but it'll require me and you taking a break from our Scrabble games."

Nichols wanted to protest but she caught sight of Chapman doing her sexy lean again and faltered. "Fine. Do whatever you need to do. Morello's a sweet girl. Chapman shouldn't be using her in some sick game of one-upmanship. If she stays away from Morello, I'll keep my distance. At least until you convince her we aren't a couple." Nichols chuckled at the thought. "As if we'd work. Who'd have to be the delicate little flower waiting to be plucked?"

Vause chuckled and gave her a wink. "I've already plucked your flower. It was fun."

Nichols wanted to laugh but she could see Chapman in the background over Vause's shoulder. She didn't want to risk annoying the woman any further. Sure it was a petty thing to do but Chapman seemed the petty type at times. The way she'd immediately gone after Morello was a testament to her mind set. She was ruthless and mean when she wanted to be. Nichols had heard Crazy Eyes tell someone that Chapman wasn't actually a nice person, just somebody pretending to be one. Nichols had thought that absurd at the time, now she wasn't so sure Crazy Eyes wasn't a little bit sane after all.

"Tell her she wins," Nichols finally said accepting defeat. There were battles you fought, and battles you didn't fight, this was one she knew she had to wave the white flag on. She wasn't sure how far Chapman would take this but she got the feeling the blonde would go all the way if she had to. And Nichols knew herself, if Chapman slept with Morello without actually being in love with her she'd punch her in the face. Of course that would end badly for her because the Mexican girls would chop her up into Taco meat.

"Don't worry about Piper. A butterfly, or a bottle of new shampoo will catch her attention and she'll forget why she was even mad at you."

Nichols finally laughed. "I'll tell her you said that after we've kissed and made up."

Vause smirked and looked over her shoulder without bothering to turn her body. "Hey Piper, want to take a walk with me?"

Chapman jumped up on the balls of her feet totally ignoring the fact that she was inappropriately leaning against Morello less than a second ago.

"Let's go," Chapman said eagerly. The eagerness in her voice made Nichols want to jump for joy. She didn't want Morello, she wanted Alex. Thank God for small favors.

"I need to borrow Piper for a while Morello but Nichols would love to play checkers with you, wouldn't you Nichols?"

Nichols did her best frustrated face and said, "No," with all the annoyance she could muster. Still she didn't think anybody bought it because she was already half way across to room to Morello's table.

**If you've been reading you may have noticed that the facts don't always mesh from character to character. That's not a mistake, it's by design. I imagine, and this is just my opinion, that the worst part of gossip is the assumptions we make without having all the facts. I love how one rumor spirals so out of control that Piper is a full fledged drug dealer by the end of the tale. And I like how a few well told half truths can result in fear and intimidation as with the case of Flaca. Who clearly is a bit off, I mean who beats somebody with a baseball bat? But still, she isn't necessarily a bad person. Anyways, I have one more wrap up chapter to complete and this sordid tale will be done. Thanks for reading, I forgot how fun it was to upload and watch for reviews and alerts. Even though I don't always respond to reviews know that I read them all and appreciate the recognition and would like to say thank you to all of you who took the time. Your comments always make my day! **

**Empty Pen**


	8. Chapter 8

[Flashback] Flaca: 3 years ago

The tears were streaming now and Flaca felt like she couldn't breathe. Anna had been surfing the internet for weeks now looking for helpful information but it had stopped being helpful after the first few hours. Nothing online was going to be able to help her.

"Baby, you'll get through this. You'll get through it and when you get out we'll go along with our plans. I'm going to work really hard and get into Dental school and we'll get a place together and we'll be happy again."

Flaca felt her breath catch in her chest and she felt like she were having a heart attack. Anna was optimistic, that was one of the things Flaca loved most about her. She always saw the glass as half full.

"I'm not gonna survive inside Angel. Somebody is going to hurt me and I'm going to get killed," Flaca had no illusions about what she could expect once she went inside. She was an upper class girl from the suburbs. Third generation Mexican-American. Her parents were from Scarsdale, she'd only seen gangs and drugs on TV. She didn't know the first thing about being a tough girl. A barrio girl.

"You will." Anna abandoned her laptop and rushed to Flaca's side on the bed. They'd holed themselves up in a hotel for days, hiding out in the city far away from their parents and the real world waiting to split them up forever. Anna had been with her every step of the way. She disappeared for a few hours here and there to go to class but they went to bed together every night and woke up together every morning. She was here, every step of the way. Flaca loved her for that.

"Are you sorry, that you did it?"

The question almost hurt. She wasn't proud of what she'd done but she didn't regret it either, not for a minute. She couldn't imagine going through what Anna went through. Knowing somebody had violated her while other people stood around and laughed about it. They weren't laughing now, Flaca knew that much. The whole lot of them had been expelled from school. When the police came asking questions every copy of the video disappeared off the face of the Earth too. Nobody knew anything all of a sudden. Futures were ruined, lives altered forever. Still, after it all Flaca was the only one going to jail.

"No. I'm not. I love you. Forever and ever baby. I won't ever let anybody get away with hurting you. You're my Angel. I'm just sorry I didn't go with you to that party. That's what I regret, that I didn't just go."

Anna kissed her gently. "This isn't your fault. You did something bad Fifi but for the best of reasons. I will love you until the day I die for protecting me. And I will be here for you when you get out."

Flaca believed her and that's the thing that hurt the most. She was going to be gone for seven years. Seven years was forever. Anna would meet somebody else, fall in love, maybe settle down and live the life she'd always dreamed they'd have together. At least she should be free to.

"You can't wait for me Angel. You have to live your life. I did what I did but I don't want you to be locked up with me. You have to be happy."

Anna kissed her again. "I'll be happy with you when you come home. And the lawyer said you could come home after five years if you don't get in trouble. I'll spend most of that time studying anyway. You just stay out of trouble and come home to me. Life will be good again baby you wait."

"I don't know if I can do it," Flaca admitted. "I'm not a tough girl."

"People see what they want to see Fifi. We got these tattoos so we'd always be together. You can't see it but that A G on your shoulders is me. I'm always with you. Anna Gomez. And F G, that's you on mine. I can't always see you but I know you're there."

Flaca forced herself to smile. The tattoos were a good idea. At least she'd be able to take some small piece of Anna with her inside. She didn't know why it made her feel better but it did. It gave her strength when she thought about it.

"I love you so much. I'm going to miss you so much baby."

Anna ran her hand through Flaca's long black hair. "I'm going to miss you too Fifi but you just do what we talked about. Put who you are aside and be who you need to be to make it back to me in one piece. Do whatever you gotta do to survive. I love you no matter what. If anybody fucks with you do what you gotta do. I need you to promise me that you're going to be strong and you're not going to let anybody fuck with you."

Anna had been insistent that she do what needs to be done to survive. She didn't seem to be concerned with the safety of anybody but her. That should have bothered Flaca but it gave her peace instead. It gave her peace to know that her Angel didn't see her as some sort of monster.

"I promise you baby. I promise I'll make it back to you."

Anna gave Flaca's chest a gentle shove and pushed her backwards onto the hotel bed and straddled her hips. "This is our last week together baby, for a long time at least. So you tell me when enough is enough. Until we leave this room and you go inside I'm all yours. Whenever, wherever, however many times you want me."

Any other time hearing that would have made Flaca smile but today it just stung. Today it only reminded her that their days together were numbered. Anything could happen before they were able to hold one another again. She forced herself to stop crying. She had to toughen up. It was the only way she'd be able to survive. She had to go cold, go cold and empty inside and one day hopefully she'd be with her Angel again.

* * *

Piper and Alex:

Alex spied Doggett and her crew across the game room and did her best not to make fun of the fact that they hadn't even ventured a glance in their direction. Doggett had disappeared off their radar since the sit down. She didn't speak to them, didn't look in their direction, she didn't even gossip about them. It was like they weren't even on the same plane of existence anymore.

Piper's threat had seemed to get under the woman's skin. It wasn't much of a surprise however, Alex figured it would scare her off. She'd basically threatened to kill her in front of half the prison. Doggett had clearly taken the hint and backed off.

Piper however had begun to relish her time as a criminal. She'd stopped pretending to be sweet and had become full blown bitch most of the time. She'd been having so much fun Alex thought it was time for the next step in her education. The outside. Piper being Piper however, wasn't taking it seriously.

"When you leave Litchfield things are going to be different Piper. You have to be on. All the time. You can't be wishy washy. You have to be all in. This business is cutthroat and ruthless, the moment you let your guard down somebody will take advantage of you."

Piper didn't seem to be taking any of this serious and that was a damn shame because people who didn't commit 100% always ended up getting themselves killed.

"I'm okay, I'll be fine." Piper finally said with confidence she hadn't come close to earning.

Alex sighed. "The fact that you believe that tells me you won't be fine. This business is full of sharks. People will test you when they first meet you. No matter what happens you have to stand up for yourself. Don't let anybody take advantage of you. You want what you want and don't let anybody talk you into taking less. It's better to take nothing than to be taken advantage of. Nobody will give you shit for shutting down a deal if you think somebody is fucking around."

Piper nodded still over confident. Alex decided to take another approach.

"A guy I knew when I first started out in this business messed up a deal once and then just disappeared. His family looked for him for weeks. They called his friends, nothing, they went to his place and didn't find him there either. He was just gone. They waited weeks until he finally got an eviction notice for not paying his rent. His sister went to his place to pack up his things and put them in storage for when he came back. One day when she was packing she wanted to nuke some popcorn. When she opened the microwave she found his head inside. Just rotting inside the microwave, it had been there the whole time. It didn't smell or anything she said, which is strange because if you burn your popcorn in the microwave you can always smell it."

This seemed to get Piper's attention. "What did he do wrong?"

"I don't know and I don't want to know Piper. You don't ask questions. You do what you're told and you do what you say you're going to do. Your word is everything in this business. Nobody trusts anybody but your word still has to be good. Always count your money upfront and don't take any excuses. If somebody shorts you once call them on it, if they short you twice they're trying to cheat you and don't ever trust them again."

"We need to talk about this at length. I want to know everything you know. I want to make sure things are running smooth when you come home."

Alex finally relaxed, Piper was starting to understand. It would take a little while to get her up to speed but they were in prison. She had plenty of time. Months actually to teach Piper how not to get herself killed. She had the personality for it, now all she needed was the skills.

"We'll start at the beginning. We'll start at the bottom. We'll even get Maritza to tutor you. Her boyfriend was a corner dealer, she actually sounds like she was the brains of the operation to tell you the truth. We can even find a place for her if she wants when she gets out. It'll be fine. We'll be good, you just have to remember what I teach you. Remember it and live by it and you'll be fine. When I come home I'll do most of the heavy lifting and you can go back to being a woman of leisure but until then you're going to have to carry the load."

Piper nodded. "I'm in. One hundred percent." Alex smiled at her enthusiasm. It was strange seeing her excited about anything. Piper had always seemed perpetually bored, now she was wide eyed and eager. She was like a baby bird learning to fly, she'd dip a few times but once she got the hang of it she would soar.

* * *

[Flash-Forward} Piper and Maritza 8 years:

Piper's eyes were still stinging from the flash bulbs going off. There had seemed to be hundreds of them. All going off at once blinding her. Her head was still spinning from the chaos and her head was pounding from all of the excitement of her and Maritza being shoved in a prison van and hustled off to prison. Of course none of that compared to her feet. She'd worn an expensive pair of shoes for her last day of court, expensive and deathly uncomfortable. People expected things, they expected flash and to do from her and she wasn't going to disappoint. Comfort be damned.

It seemed throughout the trial more attention had been paid to her wardrobe than to the evidence against her. Today she was wearing a pair of knee high black and white Roger Vivier boots that set her back $800. Of course this caused a stir because the dress she wore with them cost over three grand, the overcoat five. It wasn't an obscene amount of money but the federal prosecutors wanted to know where the expensive wardrobe was coming from. Her lawyers had insisted the clothes were donated but nobody actually believed that was true. It was a circus. A three ring circus.

To her credit Maritza soaked up the limelight like a movie star. To let her tell it she WAS a movie star. She lived the life of a movie star. She went to parties with celebrities and had a house in Beverly Hills right down the road from Johnny Depp, but no matter how hard she tried to blend in everyone knew who she was. She wasn't a movie star, she wasn't famous, she was infamous. A drug lord. One of the four women who comprised the Blue Octopus Organization. An international drug empire and she was only let into the A-list parties because everyone was afraid to tell her she couldn't come.

"I fucking told you it was Claudio," Maritza said. She wasn't angry, she'd been saying Claudio was the person who the government had secured testimony from for months. Claudio who had been with them since the very beginning. Claudio who had built the soap business into a legitimate empire but who had a curious habit of spending weekends in Vegas, although Piper couldn't find anyone who ever actually saw him there. The moment Maritza told her the guy was a rat she'd believed her. Of course by then it was already too late, all they could do was minimize the damage, lessen their sentences by breaking down the North American operation.

"I believed you," Piper said without judgment.

Maritza was sitting across from Piper in the back of the prison van, her hands and feet shackled together, her mood quiet, her demeanor controlled. Maritza wasn't flashy during the trial but her outfit still cost twice as much as Pipers. Of course nobody noticed, everybody was obsessed with Piper's boots.

"Five years. That's nothing," Maritza said almost to herself. Maritza had been convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and defraud the IRS. She was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison. When she was arrested the cops had found 350,000 in cash stuffed into duffle bags in the back of her closet, which they promptly confiscated. They'd also confiscated two and a half million dollars in jewelry, fur, clothes, and property and had put her six million dollar Beverly Hills mansion up for auction. It should have been a devastating hit, it looked to be. But Piper knew Maritza well. Most of her money was hidden overseas under a half a dozen aliases. There were also several large duffle bags of cash hidden with her cousin for the expenses related to taking care of her daughter. Piper wasn't sure if Maritza had even seen the girl since she'd been out of prison but she knew the girl was well taken care of. Nobody knew where she was or even what she looked like. Piper had known Maritza for a decade almost and didn't even know the girl's name. Maritza was extremely careful and cautious and the moment the cops found large sums of money, jewelry and other flashy things she relaxed. They just need something to put on the news. They won't look too much harder, she'd said when they'd been arrested.

"With truth in sentencing over you'll probably only end up doing half of that. Maybe three years," Piper said doing her best to sound reassuring. The Federal truth in sentencing laws required federal prisoners to serve all of their time, minus time off for good behavior. It had been repealed two years ago after controversy on the Supreme Court. The government couldn't seem to get their shit together and get the bill resigned and passed. Piper and Maritza were more than happy to take advantage of the political infighting. Their lawyers had assured them their verdicts were set, the government couldn't retroactively enact the law for people who went into the system while Washington DC was fighting over the specifics.

"You're lucky. You're the one who got ten years," Maritza reasoned. Piper had taken a massive hit in court. She'd been singled out by Claudio and had therefor taken most of the weight. The government had come after her hard and thanks to Maritza's heads up she'd been able to avoid some of the convictions by being aware of what her once trusted employee was doing with the feds. She'd beat more than half the charges levied against her but not enough to avoid prison. In the end she got eleven years.

"They took all my money too. Even froze my soap money accounts."

Maritza shook her head. "Chuckles said he'll get that back for you. They just want to fuck with you."

Piper didn't doubt her lawyer's word on any of this. He'd assured her that the feds wouldn't find her life line and they hadn't. She had millions of dollar hidden overseas waiting for her to get out of prison. The government had confiscated seven million dollars in drug money out of accounts specifically designed to be found, and property and cash that equaled millions more but her rainy day fund was still intact and drawing interest.

"I know," Piper said sourly.

"Hey, I spoke to Anna," Maritza said with sudden excitement.

Piper perked up at the news. It had been a while since she'd heard from Flaca and Anna. Flaca was currently serving time in prison in Indonesia. According to Alex the place was so corrupt that her 'cell' was for all intents and purposes a luxury studio apartment complete with flat screen TV, leather sofa and king sized bed. And if that wasn't bad enough Anna managed to sleep over several times a week.

"How's Flaca?"

Maritza scoffed. "In prison. Even if it's a bullshit prison with mini fridges in the cells she's still locked up. She's only got six months left though. Anna wants her to come back to the States afterwards."

Piper rolled her eyes. Anna. Anna was Flaca's kryptonite. When Flaca finished her sentence at Litchfield Maritza and Piper wanted to let her move on towards a civilian life. Anna had other plans. She was gung ho about Flaca getting involved with the drug business. Flaca was happy making Anna happy and allowed herself to get sucked into a life of crime. Maritza had frequently tried to get Flaca to stray from Anna before a routine business trip to Indonesia ended with a bribery conviction for Flaca and a two year jail term. Piper and Maritza had agreed to phase her out of the business against her will but that had all changed with the indictments. Alex would need Flaca to help ease some of the burden now that Maritza and Piper were in prison.

"Tell her to stay the hell away. You see Alex took off as soon as she saw she wasn't part of the indictment. The DEA will be all over her. The second she comes home they won't ever let her leave the country again." Alex was hiding out in the middle of nowhere keeping the business afloat. With three of the four principals in prison it was important she not get herself arrested so she was on the lam. Piper missed her but she understood her need to disappear. The bosses didn't want to hear how much she missed Alex. They wanted to hear money was still flowing.

"I tried but Anna wants to see her folks."

"Dr. Pain in the ass," Piper said lightly to herself.

"She went through all the trouble of going to dentist school so she can do absolutely nothing with her degree. Flaca finished her college degree on line and you should have seen how happy she was. She even found one of those medical schools in South America that was going to let her in and study to be a doctor but Anna didn't want to live in Belize for four years."

Piper had already known about the medical school. In actuality Flaca's acceptance was her doing. A few phone calls, a threat or two and a large sum of cash had secured her position in an incoming class when she wanted it. It had always been Flaca's dream to become a doctor and even though she would never be allowed to practice back in the States because of her criminal record she would still achieve one of her life long goals. There were some countries where her background could be over looked, the world was a big place.

"I'm starting to think maybe Flaca got herself busted on purpose to get away from her."

Maritza laughed lightly. "At least they're putting us in the same prison together, you don't have to worry about making friends, you know how you come across to new people."

"Hooray," Piper deadpanned causing Maritza to crack up with laughter. The guard driving the bus and his partner in the passenger seat both glared at them over their shoulders to show their disapproval.

Maritza stifled her laughter and leaned back against the cold wall of the prison transportation bus and shut her eyes. They were off to prison, not Litchfield this time but an equivalent. Their placement specialist had lobbied hard to keep them on the East Coast. He'd even gone so far as to suggest they be placed back at Litchfield. The system had balked at that however. Litchfield was now infamous for being the birthplace of a large scale criminal conspiracy. Every time somebody mentioned them they mentioned Litchfield, for that reason alone Piper knew she'd never step foot back into the prison again. That was too bad. Whenever she'd imagined going back to prison she'd always imagined that prison to be Litchfield. She steeled her nerves and followed Maritza's lead, she had to prepare herself, reputation was everything especially as far as prison was concerned.

* * *

[Flash-forward] Mendoza 8 years:

Mendoza smiled when she saw Maritza come through the doors in her orange jumpsuit. She looked the same as when Mendoza saw her last. Maritza had always been a little rough around the edges, she was a beautiful girl but back then you could tell it was natural beauty, a gift from God. Now the woman looked stunning. On the outside she'd had the money to step her game up and she'd excelled, now she looked like a model or a movie star. Mendoza had even once seen her picture in a magazine with Johnny Depp.

Maritza smiled at her, a cautious smile but still a smile and Mendoza didn't waste any time walking towards her and wrapping her in a giant hug. She hadn't spoken to Maritza since she'd left prison but money mysteriously showed up in her commissary account once a year and Mendoza knew it had to be Maritza's doing.

"Hey hija," Mendoza said offering her a healthy embrace and a kiss on the cheek. The rest of the girls had shown up to greet Maritza too, a mixture of both young and old women, none of who actually knew Maritza but all had seen and heard about her. She and Chapman had been all over the news.

"Mendoza, what's up lady, how you holding on, how are your boys?" Maritza said with familiarity that made Mendoza proud. In the back of her mind she'd always assumed Maritza would forget about her, she'd traveled the world since Litchfield, it wouldn't surprise her if she barely remembered her name.

Mendoza shrugged. "Rico just graduated high school, and Anthony passed two years ago, Juan is still square but that's his thing, nine to five two babies and a fat wife, he's happy so I'm happy for him."

Maritza returned the kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry about Anthony, I know he was all of you."

Mendoza nodded suddenly sad thinking about the strong beautiful baby boy that she'd lost. "Hey Ortiz, bring that stuff up here."

Ortiz, a girl barely eighteen with glasses and short reddish black hair hustled forward with a pile of goodies. Essentials to transition Maritza smoothly inside, shower shoes, toothpaste, shampoo, underwear, necessities. Ortiz handed the commissary items off to Maritza and hustled away without saying anything at all. Ortiz was always shy but she was smart. She reminded Mendoza of Maritza back in Litchfield, watching, paying attention, careful, smart enough to not step on toes.

"So where's Chapman?"

Maritza looked over her shoulder. "With the suburbanites, you know how it is inside, that's where she belongs."

Mendoza nodded then looked over her shoulder towards the crowd. "Alvarez, Trejo, you guys go make sure Chapman gets her stuff. Make sure she knows Maritza's girls has her back in here. If she needs anything she should let us know."

The two girls shuffled off and Mendoza watched Maritza watch them leave. "We roll with you Maritza but we know Chapman is your girl. We know she's your partner on the outside so of course we'll hold her down in here if she needs something. But so there's no misunderstanding we're YOUR girls, we answer to you not her."

Maritza nodded. "Chapman can take care of herself but a little protection never hurt nobody."

Mendoza laughed. "I was telling them about how she played us all when she showed up inside that first time. Pretending to be all doe eyed and innocent then turned gangster one day. Fucking Tony Montana."

Maritza laughed. "Knocked all a bitch's teeth out."

Mendoza continued to laugh but pointed off to the distance. "Let me show you to your bunk, I know you're probably tired after processing and that squat and cough shit still makes me want to climb under the bed and hide."

Maritza just nodded. Over her shoulder somebody finally spoke up instead of staring like mute idiots.

"How is Flaca doing?"

Maritza nodded. "That lucky bitch is in prison in Indonesia. She was able to hook herself up over there. She's got a mini-fridge, a flat screen TV, a fucking sofa and coffee table, private bathroom and shower. She'll be out in six months though and she'll be back in business. She might be coming back to the States because her cousin Anna wants to see her mom. I think she should stay the fuck away."

Mendoza knew Flaca's cousin Anna was really her girlfriend Anna but nobody would ever say otherwise. In the culture that sort of thing was frowned upon but if you gave people some lie to tell themselves they never brought it up or said otherwise in public. Mendoza had an aunt who had a roommate for forty five years. They lived in a two bedroom brownstone in Queens although Mendoza had always noticed her aunt's friend's room was always dusty as if nobody ever went inside. It was the sort of thing nobody ever brought up, still Mendoza loved her aunt to pieces. She'd taken her to the zoo during the summers when she was a kid and to Coney Island to ride the Ferris wheel, she was a good person, family. Like Flaca.

"Did Anna finish school, is she a dentist?" Mendoza asked.

Maritza nodded. "Dr. Anna Gomez DDS."

* * *

[Flash-forward] Piper 8 years:

The TV common area was crowded with women but the moment she walked inside everything went quiet. All the seats were taken but a skinny red head with frizzy hair and sunken cheeks quickly stood up and offered Piper her seat up front. Piper offered her a quick thank you and the girl nodded quietly and disappeared to the back of the room.

All eyes were on her as she settled herself but the moment the commercial for Pepsi Cola ended the program started. The Biography channel was in constant rotation at this prison. Back at Litchfield it had been the Nature Channel.

The ominous music filled the room and the program started with a serious sounding man with a deep TV voice speaking up.

_Four Women. All from different walks of life. Beautiful. Deadly. Ruthless. Alexandra Vause, Maritza Ramos, Piper Chapman, and Flaca Gonzales. Formed in Litchfield Federal Prison. Operated internationally. This group lives by the creed 'The Octopus has four heads'. Today we take a look at one of the most infamous female run criminal empires of all time. The Blue Octopus Organization._

Piper wanted to roll her eyes when the room erupted into a cheer. A few feet away Maritza was also sitting in the front row but her attention was glued to her old prison mug shot on screen. Piper wouldn't necessarily call Maritza vain but she was surely overly obsessed with her appearance. She rarely had a hair out of place these days. Even her old mug shot could have doubled as a modeling head shot.

_They're all a bunch of psychopaths. Every one of them. Evil maniacs obsessed with money and worldly power. They belong in prison. All of them. Piper Chapman knocked all my teeth out and broke my cheekbone and Flaca Gonzales threatened to kill every one of my congregation inside if I didn't stay out of their way. Good women only looking to turn their lives around. I complained but nobody did anything, nobody cared. They had too much power._

Piper's jaw almost hit the floor when she saw Tiffany Doggett on screen. Doggett looked good cleaned up with her shiny white dental implants and her Sunday dress. The TV had labeled her Pastor Tiffany Doggett, and former Litchfield inmate. Doggett had always been a preacher so it didn't surprise Piper that she'd made it official when she got out of prison.

The crowd had booed her but Doggett always had that effect on people. "Of all the people to interview they choose that lunatic," Mendoza said.

Piper hadn't expected to see a familiar face inside but Mendoza had managed to get herself arrested again this time for second degree murder. According to rumor she'd killed some witness and government informant who may or may not have murdered her son Tony. She was serving twenty five years but had warranted minimum security because her lawyer had claimed mother's heartbreak as the reason she'd killed the victim. It hadn't scored her a lesser sentence but it did convince the judge she wasn't likely to kill anyone else.

"She photographs well," Piper said softly, "must be the teeth."

Maritza chuckled as did Mendoza but neither of them spoke. There was nothing to say. They were in prison and it was hardly the place to defend yourself. It would be Doggett's word against hers and to her credit Doggett had turned her life around and became a productive member of society. Piper was back in prison and branded with the permanent title of drug lord. She was only doing eleven years this time but she knew next time she wouldn't be so lucky. She knew next time she'd probably get what the government had tried to give her this time. Life in Prison. That however was a problem for another day. Today she other problems.

Polly would come visit tomorrow and they'd talk about the soap business which Polly had outright refused to sell her share of. Piper suspected the woman knew her business was a front for drugs but simply didn't care. She had to know something was up, Piper was sure of that. They'd never talked about it and she suspected they never would but Polly hadn't abandoned her like her family had when the truth came out. She sat behind her every day at trial and offered words of encouragement. She was a true friend. Loyal to the core, she'd faced off against the Feds and called their bluff when they'd threatened to throw her in jail. She didn't blink when the IRS tore apart her life and finances and walked away totally unscathed. Now she'd wanted to come visit to talk about business. Piper knew she'd have to give her whatever she asked for. She wasn't in a position to argue. If she didn't Polly would likely leave and not come back, then Piper would be alone. Well almost alone. Alex couldn't visit herself but she'd assured her that her friend Rosalie would visit, write, and accept her phone calls. It was comforting to know she had something to look forward to. Something to help her pass the time inside. Prison could be a lonely place.

**So I've finished this twisted tale of the descent into crime of Piper Chapman, all precipitated by a rumor and I have to say I'm very happy with it. I rambled at times but the feedback I've gotten has been very positive and I thank you for that. I put Piper back in prison at the end because that's what happens to drug dealers, even the smart ones. Alex on the other hand is a survivor and in my humble opinion will do anything to avoid any time in prison that she can, so I put her in hiding. I put Flaca half way around the world, still with Anna, but back in prison because in my mind her girlfriend is probably the worst thing that could have happened to her, but love blinds us to the truth about people sometimes. Maritza in my mind is the only one ahead of the curve. She's street smart with a good head for reading people and even though she's obsessed with her looks and being loved (Partying with Celebs, Wanting to be famous, fatal mistakes for drug dealers) I see her as smart enough to plan ahead and limit her exposure. Hence her money laundering charge and lack of drug conviction. So that being said I hope you enjoyed this story and thanks for reading and reviewing. Until next time... **


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